Books Read For April

For Beckwith we need to hold a balance in respect to politics. Politics is not everything, but neither is it nothing. It has its place. That is why Christians need to be informed of the laws and statutes of our land and discerning as to when they need to or should get involved.

I think this is a valuable book for those seriously interested in politics. It has some wonderful insights, simply lays out the various areas of study in politics and succinctly discusses the major issues. Finally, it points you to further study.

Recommended.

Evangelism requires words, but as the authors point out, words can be cheap. No, evangelism, interaction with people, requires more than words – it requires a commitment to get involved. It requires an investment of time, energy and compassion. It requires the willingness not just to open a can of worms, but to help be involved in its clearing up. It involves learning to get into friendships with people for the long haul.

If the church exhibited more of the characteristic of friendship at the margins we would have a revolution on our hands. It will also shake up our schedules. Recommended.

Cordeiro has produced a book that should be on the book shelf of every seminary student and pastor. Knowing how to manage yourself and the demands of ministry is so important. Knowing what God has called you to do and to live intentionally in that calling; willing to delegate and assign tasks that others can do and when to take time out, and away, to be with the God and to seek him. What are your priorities in the limited hours of a day and how you must make time for family and yourself.

Wayne Cordeiro knows first hand what happens when you lead on empty!

Highly Recommended.

Stott is a scholar of the highest order and his commentaries are first class. Yet what makes them different is that all of Stott’s commentaries can be used as devotional tools, and this is very useful. Technical Commentaries are great and needed (and I have many) but when preparing for Bible Studies where there is lots of engagement, Stott’s commentaries are invaluable. Mixed in with the scholarship is the heart of a preacher / evangelist and this gives the commentary real practical teeth. To spend a month or so going through Acts with this commentary by your side would be a wonderful devotional study.

Highly Recommended.

The first serious biography of John Stott since Timothy Dudley-Smith’s comprehensive two volume work. Roger Steer has done a good job in revealing to us Stott.  Of course, this is one volume and so the events are truncated and the major events of Stott’s life and ministry and not developed as fully as they might have been if there was more space. One of the draw backs of the size of the book is that some of the transitions are a little too abrupt, causing you to reluctantly move on, but leaving you wishing for some more inofrmation.

Over all a good biography which I enjoyed.

T4G vs The Wheaton Theological Conference

A curious piece in Christianity Today, comparing the Wheaton Theological Conference and the T4G conference.

READ IT HERE

The Message of Acts: The Spirit, the Church, and the World by John Stott

Our Men’s Breakfast Bible Study has just finished studying the book of Acts. We started it 7 months ago, and we meet every week. After we eat breakfast, each study is around 45/50 mins long, including questions and discussion. My boss and I (along with Jon our Music Director) have team taught. One of the many commentaries I used was John Stott’s, The Message of Acts. This is really a first class commentary and I will give you just two reasons. First, Stott is able to summarize succinctly  what other commentators take pages to explain. I used other commentaries in the preparation of the 14 studies I gave on Acts (including David Peterson’s excellent work), and there was never a time when another commentary said something that Stott had not already mentioned And of course Stott is wonderfully biblical in how he handles the text. Secondly, all of Stott’s commentaries can be used as devotional tools, and this is very useful. Technical Commentaries are great and needed (and I have many) but when preparing for Bible Studies where there is lots of engagement, Stott’s commentaries are invaluable. Mixed in with the scholarship is the heart of a preacher / evangelist and this gives the commentary real practical teeth. To spend a month or so going through Acts with this commentary by your side would be a wonderful devotional study.

Highly Recommended.

New Book: Church Planting Is For Wimps by Mike McKinley

This looks like a very interesting book. Here is a great snippet to wet your appeitite!

” When my former pastor from Capitol Hill Baptist, Mark Dever, called one morning and asked me to meet him that day on the seminary campus, I felt reluctant. I was happy to meet with Mark, but doing so meant staying late at work. It also meant skipping my fifteen-minute afternoon nap, which was often the only thing lying between me and the abyss. But Mark has boundary issues and a way of getting what he wants, so later that day I chugged a jumbo-sized cup of gas station coffee and slumped down on a bench outside the seminary library, waiting for him to arrive.

When he did, we started with a few moments of chitchat, but he turned to business pretty quickly. Capitol Hill Baptist was growing out of its meeting space, he said, and the cost of making significant renovations to their old building was exorbitant. The elders of the church had decided to implement a strategy to plant churches in the surrounding suburbs. Mark was here to float a trial balloon: would I be interested in returning to DC after seminary to be CHBC’s guinea pig church planter?

I would eventually say yes, of course. Mark is a made man in the Reformed Mafia. He has a giant Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals logo tattooed on his back. He has J. I. Packer’s home phone number in his contact list under “Jim P.” You don’t say no to a guy like this.”

Leading On Empty: Refilling Your Tank and Renewing Your Passion by Wayne Cordeiro

80 percent believe that pastoral ministry affects their families negatively. 33 percent say that being in ministry is an outright hazard to their family. 75 percent report they’ve had a significant stress-related crisis at least once in their ministry. 50 percent feel unable to meet the needs of the job.

90 percent feel they’re inadequately trained to cope with ministry demands. • 25 percent of pastors’ wives see their husband’s work schedule as a source of conflict. • Those in ministry are equally likely to have their marriage end in divorce as general church members. • The clergy has the second highest divorce rate among all professions. • 80 percent of pastors say they have insufficient time with their spouse. • 56 percent of pastors’ wives say that they have no close friends. • 45 percent of pastors’ wives say the greatest danger to them and their family is physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual burnout. • 52 percent of pastors say they and their spouses believe that being in pastoral ministry is hazardous to their family’s well-being and health. • 45.5 percent of pastors say that they’ve experienced depression or burnout to the extent that they needed to take a leave of absence from ministry. • 70 percent do not have someone they consider a close friend.

Such are the statistics which Wayne Cordeiro quotes near the beginning of his book. Statistics which are both, simultaneously frightening and not surprising. Pastoral ministry is a privilege, honor and a blessing, but it is also tough. It is demanding. And, unless ministers are wise and aware, it can destroy us, and our families.

Cordeiro himself came close to being destroyed by ministry. His own journey through burnout, depression and ‘leading on empty’ is the foundation of this book.

Cordeiro has produced a book that should be on the book shelf of every seminary student and pastor. Knowing how to manage yourself and the demands of ministry is so important. Knowing what God has called you to do and to live intentionally in that calling; willing to delegate and assign tasks that others can do and when to take time out, and away, to be with God and to seek him. What are your priorities in the limited hours of a day and how you must make time for family and yourself.

There is some wonderful wisdom in this book; wisdom we as ministers should chew on:.

A leader’s greatest asset is not necessarily time. It is energy. A person with energy can accomplish more in four hours than another would in four days.

[My] Number One [priority] Is My Daily Devotions.

Steward your energy well, and in seasons of dismay, you will still have enough of a reservoir to lead.

Healthy marriages require intentionality and planned investment. So will your waistline, your family, your ministry, your faith, and your emotional health. The Scriptures exhort us to “run in such a way that you may win” (1 Corinthians 9:24). It is not automatic.

I thoroughly recommend this work.

A Volcano – Travel Disruption – Great Missionaries of the Past Turning In Their Grave…

I confess. I sinned. I chuckled at the scenes of people delayed and getting angry because of the shut down of the airports across Europe. I did not chuckle because I was happy to see people disrupted. Not at all. I chuckled because of the expectation we have today that traveling thousands of miles SHOULD be easy and that delays are called ‘hardships’.

I thought about the missionaries of the past. Those men and women who traveled across oceans, and uncultivated land without planes, or SUV’s, or All Terrain Hummers! Those who went into deepest Africa, like Livingstone; or who crossed the Atlantic Ocean in the 18th Century like Whitefield and Wesley. Delays, uncertainty, high possibility of death from storms or disease where their constant companion. Even Paul the Apostle in Acts 27-28 travels from Israel to Rome and is shipwrecked and has to spend 3 months on Malta (now that’s a delay!). And this was a man who had traveled 3500 miles by sea.

Our modern culture has made this assumption that to travel thousands of miles should be simple and easy – and fortunately a lot of the time it is easy. But really, a few days, a week, 10 days delay is no big deal when compared to the real problems of the world. Those who have been inconvenienced and stranded should rejoice that they have probably ate better and slept more comfortably in their delay than the majority of men, women and children do each day of their life around the world.

A little perspective. A little reflection. A Volcano; some travel disruption; people will get home and  life will go on.

Can A Church Be To Big?

Carl Trueman thinks so. A very thought provoking point…

OK, it’s been some years since I’ve beaten this drum, but this really did highlight for me once again the manifold problems and shortcomings of the megaconference with the megapastors phenomenon. Such are inspiring and encouraging shots in the arm for those working hard in struggling churches; but the pastor of a church with, say, 1000 or more people has almost nothing of any practical usefulness to say to the session at a church like mine vis a vi day-to-day shepherding. It’s a just a different scale of operation, when you cannot know all your people by name, and have a team and a budget to keep everything running.

This is not a criticism; there is no `biblical’ norm for church size (though I do think, as a rule of thumb, if the pastor can’t remember every member’s name, it might be time to think of splitting and planting); but it is to say that pastors of very large churches are actually of inversely proportional use to the wider church simply because the world in which they live is not the world in which the vast majority of pastors, elders, deacons, members and adherents exist; and the specific questions big church pastors, and solutions they can offer, are often of an entirely different order. So here’s an appeal: let’s organise some big conferences where all the speakers are pastoring churches of three hundred people or less. It may well be that the lectures and Q and As prove less inspirational but far more useful to normal churches and pastors in ordinary circumstances.

Taken from Reformation 21 Blog

Christians – Quit Complaining About Persecution

An interesting article by Ruth Gledhill of the Times (called “It Can Only Harm Christians To Bleat About Persecution”) set my thinking juices flowing!

On the basic premise of her article I agree with her. Christians – complaining about persecution – what HAS the world (or Christianity) come to.

Francis Beckwith’s book “Politics For Christians” makes a vital point to this. For much of the Church’s life, there has never been any available recourse to persecution – the Church / Christians were persecuted and the church / Christians took it, prayed through it and endured it in the grace of the Holy Spirit. But with the formation of liberal democracy, where Christians have been able to participate in the election of officals and be active in the legislative process and even have some clout in government circles, the Church has come to ‘complain’ about persecution. Of course, there are believers around the world today who are being persecuted for Christ, and dying for the gospel, because of hostile governments.

Can any Christian read Matthew 24 and then be surprised that they are being persecuted? The Scriptures explicitly tells us that the church and believers will be persecuted and killed.

Then Jesus replied to them: “Watch out that no one deceives  you.  5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the  Messiah,’ and they will deceive many.  6 You are going to hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, because these things must take place, but the end is not yet.  7 For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines    and earthquakes in various places.  8 All these events are the beginning of birth pains.

Matt. 24:9   “Then they will hand you over for persecution,  and they will kill you. You will be hated by all nations because of My name.  10 Then many will  take offense, betray one another and hate one another.  11 Many false prophets  will rise up and deceive many.  12 Because lawlessness  will multiply, the love of many will grow cold.  13 But the one who endures to the end will be delivered.  14 This good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed in all the world  as a testimony to all nations.  And then the end will come.”

The world is not on a trajectory to get better, nicer, more compliant with the rights of others. It is getting worse. The world is deteriorating because that is what unchecked, un-forgiven sin does. That is what happens when a society, a nation, a world ignore God and worships other gods.

A woman sacked from an Airline for insisting that she should wear a cross around her neck? If that was all the issue was (and by that I mean that she had not done something else to exasperate the issue), then this woman should rejoice that she has been worthy to be persecuted for Jesus Christ. That is what scripture says we should do. Lose a job, lose a family, lose your security, lose your reputation, lose your status, lose your dignity, whatever it is, if you have lost anything  because of your faith in Christ and the gospel then rejoice that you are worthy. Is it easy? Of course not? Will it cause hardship? Of course it will. But that is not the point. The gospel, the purposes of God, the Kingdom of God all come before our ‘comfort’ – for we have been given immense promises from God that all who follow him, even through persecution, will have life and have it abundantly!! Our futures are secured – our destiny assured – what happens here on earth is for God’s glory not our comfort.

Some of Gledhill’s comments are very naive and ignorant of Christianity. Her ignorance is evident when she writes Christianity has always been big on victimhood and victims have to find a persecutor. This is not true and any reading of Christian History will show that this has not always been the case. Also, has she heard of the christians killed around the world today for their faith? Were they looking for a persecutor? Her naivety is seen when, commenting on calls by Christians in the UK for Court Judges to stand down from cases of religious discrimination if they have previously been hostile to Christianity she writes Many leading judges are religious; many are not. But they are all fiercely independent and impartial. They are trained to set aside any personal prejudice. To suggest that they are anti-Christian is not only insulting but fails to understand the oath they swear by Almighty God, to “do right by all manner of people, after the law and usages of this realm, without fear or favour, affection or ill will”.

Now, while I think the call for judges to stand down from cases of religious discrimination because of their perceived bias is not practical or possible, Gledhill’s defense of the judge’s motives is naïve. To say a judge is NEVER swayed by their personal beliefs or prejudices – even on a subconscious level – is ridiculous. From a Christian view point, it discounts sin. Judges are sinful men trying to do their job. Their motives are never 100% pure.

Finally, Gledhill’s final paragraph is just plain weird. I have no idea what she means by it. She says

Let’s hope the Church of England really is like a swimming pool where all the noise is at the shallow end. Increasing numbers don’t need the props of religion to keep them afloat and with leaders such as these representing my faith, I’m starting to wonder if it might not be time to ditch the armbands and head for the deeper, more interesting waters of doubt.

I do hope, and pray, that one day very soon, Ruth Gledhill will meet with the real Lord Jesus Christ, the resurrected living Lord, who died for the sins of the world.

T4G 2010

I did not attend the T4G Conference this year. I have listened to most of the talks which have been posted on the website – http://www.t4g.org – there is some good stuff there this year.

One of the consolations I have in not going is that I have already read all of the giveaway books at the conference.

Do You Have Plenty?

Imagine getting hired by an independent, family owned company and you negotiate your salary at $180,000 a year. You know that this salary provides amply for your needs, for your family and for your future. It gives you plenty.

Now imagine that 6 months later, this independent family owned company hires another worker, who works less hours, but is paid $200,000 a year.

What would your reaction be? Is it fair? Has an injustice taken place? Would you complain? What would be driving your motives by complaining?

This is what the parable of the workers in the vineyard in Matthew 20 addresses. There is NO valid complaint, because the complaint would come from jealousy, greed or envy – or all three. For someone to be paid enough, but then complain because someone is paid MORE is simply greed. The vineyard owner knows that for people to feed their family and to have enough they needed a days wages. Those who agreed to the wages knowing that it was enough, complained from greed.

Are we able to recognize that we have plenty? That maybe the person who needs more of a salary to feed a bigger family can have a bigger salary – because I have plenty. I have enough?

Christianity; An Easy Life? A Reflection on Job

One of the misconceptions which the book of Job blows out of the water is the idea that to be a faithful servant of the Lord means that life will always be good and trouble free.

Of course we would ALL agree and think such a statement is rather obvious. But in my experience, whenever major trouble hits believers lives, the responses I hear (as well as my own responses to hardship) seem to suggest that we have at least an underlying, unconscious expectation that really, such hardship should not come our way – after all we are believers in Christ.

That was Job’s whole question – and the issue behind the discussion with his ‘friends.’ Job says that he has followed God’s commands faithfully, so why is God doing this to him. His ‘friends’ point out that that God only punishes the wicked and therefore Job must have sinned against God.

But we, the readers, know there is something more going on. There has been that conversation between God and Satan – God bragging on Job’s faithfulness and Satan accusing God and Job of a sham (he only follows you because you give him good things).

What struck me, reading Job, is this. Being a Christian not only does not exclude us from tough things or disasters happening to us, but that God is under no obligation to tell us WHY this is happening to us. Not only that – but he has the right to do whatever he wishes, to accomplish his purposes. God was so sure of Job’s faithfulness that he allowed Satan permission to do what he did to prove Job’s faithfulness – and he never tells Job why all that happened happened.

By placing our trust in Christ we give over the management of our life to God. And we must trust God with our life, whether it s a life filled with hardship and disaster, or with joy and blessings. We must allow God to use our life as He wishes for the purposes of his Kingdom. For when we do give our lives to him we have irrevocable promises of eternal life coming to us – in that we can rejoice – we have the hope to come which is our comfort during the tough times on earth.

9Marks Journal on Deacons

I enjoy reading the 9 marks Journal. It often has great articles that are interesting and challenging. However I was a little disappointed with the latest offering on Deacons.

What disappointed me was that a number of times there was a clear division made between the fact that Elders were responsible for teaching and preaching of the word while Deacons were there to serve. On one level that is true because, obviously, the word Deacon means to serve. But the implication I read from the articles is that Deacons should not preach or teach. That I think is not right. Also, as far as I can remember, none of the articles address two of the most famous Deacons of Scripture, Stephen and Philip.

It is interesting that the apostles appear to have appointed as Deacons men who were preachers, and prophets. The description of Stephen is quite incredible – they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and r of the Holy Spirit & And Stephen, full of grace and z power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people & But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. From these short scriptures we can see a Deacon who was anointed to proclaim the good news. Acts 7 is Stephen teaching the Sanhedrin about the salvation history of God and Israel accumulating in Christ. Then in chapter 8 we have the Deacon Philip who is proclaiming the Messiah in Samaria.

I was a little surprised that in a journal dedicated to Deacons and their role there was no mention of either Stephen or Philip – two deacons who would knock spots off most pastors and elders today.

Friendship At The Margins: Discovering Mutuality In Service And Mission by Christopher L Heuertz and Christine Pohl

I hesitate to say this, but a few evangelists and church leaders that I have meet have not  always been the most friendliest or approachable of people. I find this ironic because one of the required characteristics of a leader is hospitality. Often evangelists and pastors are busy, driven, goal orientated people, leaving very little time for the ‘small talk’ of life.

This book is a reflection on the question What does reconciliation look like when you love Jesus and want the best for people who are caught in situations of terrible evil, need or despair? How would our lives and our ministries be different if our understanding of love employed friendship?

It’s a great question and this book seeks to turn this reflection into a reality.

Friendship at the Margins is filled with stories and testimonies; stories and testimonies that we need to hear and learn from. It should both pull on your heart strings and challenge you in your own approach to the issue of ‘friendship’.

We need books like this one so that we can get a small dose of reality – a glimpse of how our brothers and sisters on the mission field are ministering in places and into situations which we would find challenging.

For us in the west evangelism can be very impersonal. We share the gospel to someone and move on to the next person. We give a tract out and we move on. We invite someone to a service and we move on. There are times when we need to be told to stop; to take stock; to check out our motive. To realize that we must learn to invest in people’s lives rather than as  another name on our membership roll.

This books does that.

Evangelism requires words, but as the authors point out, words can be cheap. No, evangelism, interaction with people, requires more than words – it requires a commitment to get involved. It requires an investment of time, energy and compassion. It requires the willingness not just to open a can of worms, but to help be involved in its clearing up. It involves learning to get into friendships with people for the long haul.

If the church exhibited more of the characteristic of friendship at the margins we would have a revolution on our hands. It will also shake up our schedules.

Recommended.

Here is a link to a video of one of the authors, Chris, discussing the book. CHECK IT OUT HERE

Satan’s Ploy in Genesis 3

I was reading Genesis 3 recently. It struck me that the serpent’s ploy is not to make Eve or Adam unbelievers. It’s not even just to have them disobey God. It is to make Eve and Adam DISTRUST God. It was to make them believe that God was holding back on them. He tells them that God’s motive in telling them NOT to eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil was that they would become like God, and God didn’t want that. That is his ploy.  It is a ploy which has worked throughout history. People get angry with God because they feel he is holding something back from them, be it a blessing, or healing or his love. That is what peopel say – “Oh God COULD have done this but he didn’t – God COULD have healed my wife’s cancer, but he didn’t. The enemy does not care whether people believe God exists – the enemy  KNOWS that God exists. The enemy is happiest when people distrust God. When people think that God is holding out on them. As a church we need to be a people who TRUST in God, even through the hardest times of our lives. God has not held anything back from us – he gave himself to die on the cross, so that we might live.

Sermons For The Apprentices

OK, these two sermons are for our Apprentices to listen to and critique. But I would recommend anyone listen to these.

18 Jesus Calls Peter, James, and John – Mark Driscoll

and

06 2_7_2010 – Judas Christianity – Greg Boyd

Both of these are very interesting!!

Politics for Christians: Statecraft As Soulcraft (Christian Worldview Integration) by Francis Beckwith

Beckwith describes his book as an introduction to politics – an introduction that should inspire continued study for the Christian. Beckwith looks at politics through the lense of liberal democracy. Although Liberal Democracy has been absent for most of Christian History, it has been embraced enthusiastically by Christians in the modern era for four major reasons: (1) it affords Christians the liberty to worship, (2) it protects the people’s power to hold the government accountable, (3) it allows citizens to participate by voting, forming political parties, running for office and / or campaigning for causes and candidates, (4) it seems consistent with and supported by a Christian understanding of the human person as well as the natural law and natural rights tradition that spring from that understanding.

In other words, liberal democracy seems to enhance many of the ideals the Christian faith does.

Beckwith takes care to define liberal democracy, liberal referring to the liberties or freedoms the government is supposed to guarantee, and democracy covering both a government that is accountable to the people, and has a developed civil society.

The question Beckwith seeks to answer is what does it mean to be a Christian citizen in a liberal democracy, and how should we interact with politics in relation to our faith. Beckwith’s plea is not necessarily that ALL Christians should become involved politically, but that ALL Christians should be politically AWARE. They should understand the effects of legislation that is passed by governments and make measured responses to any injustice or hindrance such legislation may make, especially upon the gospel. Beckwith writes: The scriptures seem to teach that people have an obligation to understand the nature of their government and its laws, and employ that knowledge so that the gospel is not disadvantaged by the state.

One interesting example that Beckwith sites is a 2003 ruling in Massachusetts which required the state to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Catholic Charities which were at that time helping families to adopt children were told that they could no longer exclude same-sex couples for consideration. Of course, the Catholic Charities were not prepared to abide by this ruling. The sad consequences was that these worthy charities withdrew from offering children for adoption. This ruling, while seemingly removing discrimination for one group, now discriminates against another group – a group whose outstanding record in placing children in good homes.

It is examples like this that Beckwith argues should inspire Christians to resist such intrusion by the state on the churches moral theology.

Beckwith has a wonderful discussion on how the apostle Paul used political knowledge and status for himself and the gospel.

Another very interesting discussion is who should Christians vote for. What if a Mormon gets into the general election? Beckwith, somewhat provocatively writes, One mistake is to be inordinately concerned with a candidates creedal allegiance to a particular faith, which may cloud people’s judgment and cause them to ignore or down play the point of politics – to do justice and advance the common good.

Insightfully, Beckwith provides us with two mistakes the we as Christians involved with politics must be careful to avoid. The first is the Kennedy Mistake. In 1960 Kennedy, in response to concerns about his Catholicism seemingly dismissed his beliefs as almost irrelevant or inconsequential to any decisions he would make as president. The second mistake is the confessional mistake. This is when a candidate believes that his creedal belief or theological confession are the BEST standard by which to judge the suitability of his candidacy.

For Beckwith we need to hold a balance in respect to politics. Politics is not everything, but neither is it nothing. It has its place. That is why Christians need to be informed of the laws and statutes of our land and discerning as to when they need to or should get involved.

I think this is a valuable book for those seriously interested in politics. It has some wonderful insights, simply lays out the various areas of study in politics and succinctly discusses the major issues. Finally, it points you to further study.

Recommended.

John Piper and Rick Warren

I have been following the fascinating events (and the fuss) which has surrounded John Piper’s invitation to Rick Warren to come and speak at the Desiring God conference.

It really is quite amusing to see people turn on John Piper, offering their criticism to him about his decision and then offering their own analysis about why John Piper is wrong – or how dangerous it is for him to have Warren speak at the DG conference.

One minute John Piper is a pastor of the very highest regard, and then his decision, motives and competency is questioned. What a fickle bunch we are.

It kind of smacks of the attitude similar to the Pharisees. Jesus was criticized for hanging out with people he supposedly should not have been associating with. A good, solid, biblical guy like Piper shouldn’t be hanging with a guy like Warren. Really?

I think that the criticism, judgments, analysis and angry comments should be held at bay until at least AFTER the conference and after Warren has spoken. Check out John Piper’s video explaining why he asked Warren to speak:

HERE

Try not to read the comments. There are some real stupid ones there!!

Update On Caleb

Caleb is doing well. He is sucking well, but slowly – and that’s a good sign. He is also putting weight on, which is another great sign. He is crying and reacting as a as he should.  He is going through physiotherapy and occupational therapy because the anti-seizure drug is causing some deterioration in muscle tone. He is responding really well to that.

The doctors want to repeat the EEG again to make sure he is having no more seizures.

The MRI has shown there is dispersion in the brain. That means that there are lots of small areas that are dead. But no one knows what this means practically. The brain could repair itself or compensate without any visible signs. They just don’t know and only time will tell. We would appreciate your prayers for this.

He will be watched carefully once he comes home to make sure he is developing on target.

He’ll be able to come home when he can take a bottle himself without getting exhausted and whether he has no more seizures when they stop the meds.

Many thanks again for your prayers. They are indeed working and we feel so carried by them.