Kempton Turner on Sermon Jams

Bethlehem’s very own Kempton Turner is featured twice on the new Sermon Jams album (Vol. 5). I have the privilige of working alongside Kempton Turner in the Young Adults Ministry here at Bethlehem Baptist Church. He is a joy-filled, Christ-centered example of Gospel partnership (Philippians 1:3-5).

Check out the album here.

Mark Driscoll on Marriage (1 Peter 3)

God is wrecking my present view of marriage, and is giving me a new, more Christ-centered view. I just finished listening to Mark Driscoll on Marriage and Men.

The greatest gift I received from his sermon was the reminder that my beautiful bride, Rebecca, is God’s daughter. This is an incredible truth! God has entrusted one of his precious daughters to me.

May I encourage you, whether you are single or married, to listen to these superb sermons from the sermon series Trial (1 & 2 Peter):

Marriage and Men

Marriage and Women

A Plea for Heart Devotions and Head Study

A short, concise plea from John Piper concerning the matter of our personal time with God:

This is a plea that all of you would build into your lives both personal devotions and purposeful study of God’s word.

Both:

Daily prayerful meditation seeking personal application of God’s word to your own heart and life.

And:

Regular study in a class or with a book where the (living or dead) teacher has seen more than you have and can give you insight in 30 minutes that might otherwise take you ten years to see.

The reason I plead for both is that without a book or a class about what some part of the Bible means and a teacher who is ahead of you, your devotions will probably flatten out at a low level of insight.

Year after year you will go over the same biblical ground and find it as perplexing as before. There will be little advance in understanding. This will tend to take the heart out of devotional reading, because the lack of growth cannot sustain the joy.

Seek out preaching, books, and classes which take you further in grasping what various books and texts in the Bible mean.

Ten Ways You Can Truly Help the Homeless

This article is very relevant for my wife and I, as we minister in the Twin Cities. We have scores of homeless people here and have daily encounters with them.

1. Never give cash to a homeless person.

2. Talk to the person with respect.

3. Recognize that homeless people (and their problems) are not all the same.

4. Share God’s love whenever you can.

5. Pray for the homeless.

6. Take precautions for your own safety.

7. Encourage the homeless to get help through your local gospel-centered homeless ministry.

8. Financially Support your local gospel-centered homeless ministry.

9. Volunteer with your local gospel-centered homeless ministry.

10. Pray for the leadership and staff of your local gospel-centered homeless ministry.

Read the whole article here.

(HT: Scott Anderson)

Cual es tu Música Favorita?

I love music. I mean, I have deep affections for music. I’m guessing some of you do, too.

So, what is your favorite and least favorite type of music?

Ryan Furgueson recites Psalm 145

Ryan Furgueson is a fantastic example of the reader I encouraged us to be in my last post. He has memorized many passages of Scripture, and I truly believe God is glorified through his ministry. Enjoy and be encouraged:

Reading the Word of God correctly is absolutely imperative

When I hear people read a storybook to children, they read with so much emotion and confidence. Why, then, do Christians typically read the Word of God aloud like they would read the obituary in the local newspaper? Our job as the reader of the Bible or any other book is to relay what the writer is trying to convey to his audience.

The other day I heard a friend read a Psalm and I was disheartened at how poorly he relayed the emotion that was packed in those precious words.

God has blessed me with many fine examples of reading the Bible correctly. I will mention just a few: Mike Tong, Brian DeWire, Joe Rigney, and my Pastor, John Piper. I’m invigorated every time I hear these men read Scripture. But for every one of these men, there are many Christians doing the Word of God an injustice by reading it like they are downhearted or morose by what they are reading.

May we read the Word of God in light of the great work that he has done in our lives. May we love God through our reading his Word with happiness and joy.

7 My heart is steadfast, O God,
my heart is steadfast!
I will sing and make melody!
8 Awake, my glory!
Awake, O harp and lyre!
I will awake the dawn!
9 I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to you among the nations.
10 For your steadfast love is great to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds.

11 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
Let your glory be over all the earth!

Psalm 57:7-11

Who is the Gospel for?

“Never lose heart in the power of the gospel. Do not believe that there exists any man, much less any race of men, for whom the gospel is not fitted.”

– Charles Spurgeon

(HT: Of First Importance)

Never Let the Gospel Get Smaller

Piper:

The Gospel gets bigger when, in your heart,

grace gets bigger;
Christ gets greater;
his death gets more wonderful;
his resurrection gets more astonishing;
the work of the Spirit gets mightier;
the power of the gospel gets more pervasive;
its global extent gets wider;
your own sin gets uglier;
the devil gets more evil;
the gospel’s roots in eternity go deeper;
its connections with everything in the Bible and in the world get stronger;
and the magnitude of its celebration in eternity gets louder.

Read the rest here.

Henrietta and Merna…singing?

I’m not sure what to write here. Maybe i shouldn’t write anything. Maybe I should just show you the video. OK, I will do that. This way you can see the video for yourself and I will stay out of trouble.

(HT: purgatorio)