Hearing the Music

Gospel Rest

What a blessing true Gospel rest is. I am defining Gospel rest as that experience when you are with people who understand the uniquenesses of your journey, people who will sit with you and give you a hug without needing to rescue you or provide all the answers. Yet Gospel rest at the same time engages people to journey with you to unearth Gospel promises that remind each of us that we are held by someone who knows all of our needs before we even ask them. Gospel rest is a true gift.

This was a little bit of our experience at our pastor/wife retreat this past week. Michael and Jen, Roger and LeAnn, along with Lisa and I, were given much needed and much appreciated pampering and pastoring. The pampering was appreciated, the pastoring was necessary. What do I mean by that? Here are some words from a study seeking to understand some of the uniquenesses of pastoral ministry. Overall, the researchers focused in on five areas as being crucial for maintaining the "long haul" in ministry*. This quote zeroes in on the marital relationship: The effects of ministry on marriage - and marriage on ministry - are rarely discussed, yet intimately connected. Ministry is not a nine to five job. It is an absorbing lifestyle. The way pastors navigate this lifestyle will influence their marriage and family. Conversely, their marriage and family life will directly affect their churches (Resilient Ministry).  

I love being a pastor, truly I do.  But it is refreshing from time to time, to step out of the "absorbing lifestyle" and focus on my wife, focus on my own heart; to get reset in the gospel. It was a gift to have this vision of Paul and Nicole Lammers come to fruition through the work and contribution of others. It is a gift that I hope will yield a noticeable return on investment! Thank You!


* Resilient Ministry: What Pastors Told Us About Surviving and Thriving highlights the following five areas as critical for pastoral longevity: 1) the pastor's own spiritual health and growth, 2) the health of the marriage and family, 3) the pastor's ability to navigate challenges of leadership, 4) the pastor's emotional and cultural intelligence, and 5) the pastor's physical and mental health care. Failure in any one of these five areas can submarine a ministry regardless of how orthodox or gifted a pastor may be.  

Good Works

As we really immerse ourselves in the Christian lifestyle through the lens of Ephesians, it is encouraging to note that Christians in various eras have wrestled with the relationship of new birth and new life, of faith and works. In particular, I want to highlight the Westminster Confession of Faith and its chapter on good works (WCF 16).

These good works, done in obedience to God’s commandments, are the fruits and evidences of a true and lively faith: and by them believers manifest their thankfulness, strengthen their assurance, edify their brethren, adorn the profession of the gospel, stop the mouths of the adversaries, and glorify God, whose workmanship they are, created in Christ Jesus thereunto, that, having their fruit unto holiness, they may have the end, eternal life.     (WCF 16.2)

Wow! Those Westminster divines sure knew how to pack a lot into a paragraph! Note a couple things: 1) good works are both commanded and the fruit of a true and lively faith. This is noteworthy because we often emphasize the nature of good works as one of thankfulness to what God has already done in our lives and yet we cannot escape that as members of the human race we are commanded to live according to the way that God has designed his world. 2) Note the sevenfold effectiveness of good works in the lives of the believer: thankfulness to God, assurance, edification of fellow believers, adorning the gospel for the unconverted, stops the mouths of adversaries, glorifies God, and ends in eternal life. What a list. I have been praying this week through this list and am enjoying having my eyes opened to how God is bringing about these truths.   

I share these thoughts with you because we are going to be swimming in these waters throughout the next several weeks. This week in Ephesians 4:25-5:2 we will touch on truth and falsehood, stealing and honest industry, corrupt talk, anger, malice, bitterness and wrath. In the coming weeks we will deal with sexual purity, Christian living in the home between husbands and wives, parents and children and in the workplace between employers and employees. While living in accordance to God's revealed word on these topics is mandated, we can never do so without the Spirit's influence and when we do live this way it is for our benefit and God's glory. 

PS. -- If you want to dive into Westminster a little more, I will be teaching on Good Works, Perseverance and Assurance (WCF 16,17, 18) in the north overflow during the SS hour!

Am I Welcome?

I recently ran across a story of a man who wore his swimsuit to church several weeks in a row to see if he would be welcomed the same as if he showed up dressed more conventionally. As it turns out he was welcomed, and as the story plays out, this church becomes crucial in helping to save his marriage which was teetering on the brink. 

I share this with you not to extol the values of swimsuit wearing in church, which frankly seems quite uncomfortable, but rather to remind us that every week people with deep hurts are worshipping with us wondering if they are welcome. In their mind are the questions, "If I don't fit the norm, will I be welcome?" "Can I be a little awkward?" "How will people handle the mess that is my life?" While these questions may occupy their minds, we all know the reality that each of our lives registers more than a little on the "I am a mess" scale. Being open with our messes is a large part of what it means to live in a Gospel community. We double down in the truth that we are not loved because we have it all together, but rather we are loved despite the mess, only for the sake of Christ's finished work on our behalf. (Which is what messy people truly need, even more than being welcomed into a community!) When we have this truth firmly embedded in our core, it allows us to respond to the swimsuit wearers, the socially awkward, the parent's whose kids run amok, the marriages that are teetering, the physically fragile, the politically angry and all else who find their way in our doors. We know mess!

As we continue on in Ephesians 4:17-24 this week we will be remind that we have been given a new self only by the sheer generosity of a gracious God. How can we be anything less than thankful to God and gracious with those we encounter!

I look forward to applying this Gospel against our messes. Let's keep our eyes open for those in their metaphorical swimsuits!



For those interested in How to  Stay Married: The Most Insane Love Story Ever Told, it is not a "how to" book but rather a beautifully brutal story of loss, sadness, and brokenness that ultimately leads to betrayal and infidelity in the marriage. In the end however, it is a story of staying married through Gospel powered forgiveness and change. Interestingly, in a world where churches and church leadership are often the "bad guys", Christ the King in Savannah and its pastor (a Covenant Seminary Grad btw) shine brightly. Devastatingly honest and hilariously funny, it tells the story in such a way as to make us look not only at Harrison and Lauren but also at ourselves.  Harrison's style, manner of theological expression and sometimes coarse language won't be for everyone and at times made me a wee bit uncomfortable, but ultimately it is a powerful portrait of the Gospel at work.

Photo by Leo on Unsplash