Steve Lawson’s 10 Minute discussion “Time Management of the Preacher” found here.
Time Management (for Preachers)
Reply
The Protevanglium of James
At the 1:00:56 time mark, Dr. James White begins reading the Protevanglium of James (a gnostic-influenced document from the 2nd century). He writes:
Just a quick note (and a test at the same time) regarding my reading of the Protevangelium of James on the DL today. I was up against a time deadline so I wasn’t able to comment as much as I would have liked, but I wanted to make sure folks understood the centrality of the story regarding the birth of Jesus to later mythological and dogmatic development. It is hard to say why this story gained such wide “traction” and reading in the centuries after Jesus. I would surmise it is for the same reason the Young Messiah movie is being made: inordinate curiosity into that which God has not chosen to reveal. In any case, the development of monasticism, an unbiblical (and unhealthy!) view of sexuality, joined together with stories like this to develop into the Marian doctrines that eventually led to the Marian dogmas that Rome continues to teach to this day, and in particular, the concept of the “Perpetual Virginity” of Mary.
I hope you noticed the very different “flavor” of this gnostic-influenced 2nd century document. Did you notice how the writer was not familiar with Jerusalem, not familiar with the geography? And how the names lacked the patronyms so often found in the actual gospels that can be traced to the real historical Jesus and His disciples? Yes, obviously, the document was dependent upon the works of Matthew, Mark and Luke, plainly, betraying its allegedly having been written even before the ministry of Jesus. It is likely the original author did not even intend his readers to take him seriously as far as the historicity of the account is concerned. But it is the different worldview, the magical rather than the revelation-based supernatural (as we have in Scripture) that should be noted.
Chesed!
Knowledge in Worship
In this excerpt from a Ligonier conference message, Alistair Begg reminds us of the importance of knowledge in worship:
Transcript
“Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven not built by human hands.”
We know…we know.
The Christian faith engages our minds. This is something that we ought to keep reminding ourselves of, so that we don’t allow our minds to fossilize, and that we continue to be sharpened and to make progress.
I was at a church in California just a few weeks ago now—back in August I think it was, time flies—and I went there. I had a Sunday free and I was staying with friends, and I went down to the church and I was excited because I get to go now, and I don’t have to do anything at all except do whatever they tell me to do. And so I sat there and I waited for it to begin. And it was quite fascinating actually. They had big screens, and they had a clock on the screens. And when I got in it said “5 Minutes” and I had only been in about 2 seconds, and you won’t be surprised, it said “4 Minutes, 58 Seconds.” And then it counted down, and eventually it counted down, “10, 9, 8, 7, 6…”. And just right on the moment of time, the band began…and I was waiting for David Letterman at that point. I didn’t know what was going to happen next. And then eventually the band did what it did, and then the person who was to lead the praise, his opening gambit was this, “Hey! How do y’all feel this morning?” Well that was enough for me. We could have had the benediction right there that was so good. I thought, what kind of New Testament question is that? How do y’all feel this morning?
If I told you how I feel, especially in light of the last 5 minutes, you would question whether I was even a Christian at all. So don’t ask me that question. Ask me what I know. Ask me what I know. Don’t ask me what I feel about myself. Ask me what I know about God. Ask me what I know about His Word. Ask me what I know to be of verity that can deal with my soul. That’s what I need. Don’t make me sing songs about how I feel. Don’t! These silly repetitive songs again and again, ‘I just want to praise you, lift my hands and say I love you, you are everything to me’. Goodness, at half past eight on a Sunday morning I’m barely ambulatory. I can’t start there. And you want me to say that? I just kicked the dog. I don’t even have a dog. I got in an argument with someone because they took my parking space. I spilled my coffee, I didn’t read my Bible, I’m a miserable wretch, and now you want me to start here—‘how do you feel?’ I feel rotten, that’s how I feel! What do you got for me? The answer, nothing. I got nothing for you.
That’s why you have to get yourself under the control of the Scriptures. That’s why it is what we know—the verities of the Scriptures which fuel our hearts and our emotions, and lead us on. Hence, ‘praise my soul the King of heaven, to His feet thy tribute bring. Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven. Who like thee His praise should sing?’
Okay, now we’ve got something to sing about, for we have been reminded of truth. You have been ransomed; you have been healed; you have been restored; you have been forgiven. You’re looking away from yourself now. You’re looking out and to Christ. And it is in this that we have something that fuels our praise.