Four weeks off from preaching? Are you enjoying your time off? What have you been doing all this time? 

Since my main responsibility at DSC is preaching, it’s not surprising that I get those kind of questions whenever I’m not preaching, and especially when it’s several weeks in a row. Well, here’s the big picture, if you’re interested to know:

• About 12 weeks a year, someone else gives the Sunday AM sermon.
• A couple of those weeks a year are truly vacation.
• Another half-dozen weeks, I’m not preaching but the week is still filled with busy office/admin, planning, counseling, discipleship stuff. It’s not at all “time off” — it’s really catch-up time for a lot of extra things that pile up.
• Another four to six weeks per year I’m doing research and writing for a PhD.

These last four weeks of pulpit absence are of that last category: working hard on writing/revising chapters of my dissertation.

Let me give a quick explanation, especially for those who are fairly new to DSC. This degree is something I started before I came to DSC six years ago. It’s been slow-going — partly because of my very average intelligence and partly because attention to the dissertation has to go in spurts. Pastoring is more than a full-time job (anywhere from 55-75 hours/week) even without the dissertation. So sometimes, several months (as many as 10 months at a time) go by without me being able to give any attention to the degree. I simply haven’t found a way to make progress on the PhD within a normal work week. And I’m fine with that — I’m a pastor first and hopefully forever. I have no intention of finishing the degree and going off to teach in a college or seminary. I’d just like to finish what I started since a lot of time has already gone into the degree. I also think that the research and writing is hugely beneficial to my pastoral ministry. 

So, for the last several summers now, the elders have graciously given me a four-week block to intensely focus on the dissertation. Hence, my absence from preaching, blogging, etc., for the last four weeks. It’s definitely not been “time off.” It’s pretending that I’m a pressured grad student once again — a lot less sleep, a little less hygiene, and a lot more caffeine. Most days are 12-14 hours of research and writing, and maybe only a couple days off in the whole month. 

This education sabbatical was once again productive and encouraging. I have only one chapter (out of seven) to write completely from scratch. Another five are written but will need some significant revision before they’re in their final form. I’m hoping (and praying!) to have the final draft done by Christmas this year. After that, it’ll take several more months (maybe another five) before all the little hoops are jumped through and I defend the dissertation. Then the dissertation will get revised for a book version that will be published by Crossway in late 2011.

As with previous education sabbaticals, so it has been this last month: I enjoy the research and mostly enjoy the writing, but it nevertheless confirms my real love for preaching, for people, for the church, and for pastoring. I love where I am and what I do. I love our church. 

All that to say, thanks so much for your patience while I was reclusively holed up in my study for a month. 

Looking forward to seeing you on Sunday as we get back to our series on Luke, specifically the first half of chapter 10, where we see Jesus’ disciples described as “Happy, Humble Harvesters.”

Preaching through Micah was a blessing and a challenge to me.  The most encouraging comment (which I heard repeatedly) was that people were reading through Micah during the week and loving it.  However, I know that it can be quite difficult to understand Micah, so I wanted to share a few resources.

The first book (which Ryan has mentioned before) is called God’s Big Picture, by Vaughn Roberts.  This book explains how we fit the Old Testament and New Testament stories together.  Beginning with Eden and moving through the exodus, the kingdom of Israel, Jesus Christ, and his eventual return, this book surveys the major events in the Bible and shows how God was establishing His people, in His place, under His rule and blessing.  At 150 pages, it is a simple and short introduction, but still very helpful.  You can purchase it online through the link above, or at DSC’s resource center.

One resource that I mentioned during the first message is the ESV Study Bible.  Like most study bibles, it includes explanatory footnotes on difficult texts and helpful background material (historical, cultural, literary) on each book.  However, two things set this study bible apart from all others.  First, the ESV Study Bible has nearly 200 extra pages (in small print, nonetheless!) of practical, beneficial, and timely articles, including such topics as the reliability of the old and new testaments, Reading the Bible for Personal Application, and The Bible and Other World Religions (Islam, Judaism, Roman Catholicism, etc.).  The second reason that I choose this study bible is because I think they have drawn from the best group of scholars and pastors available today.  This is a very trustworthy group of authors.  Again, you can purchase a copy at DSC’s resource center or at the link above.

The final set of resources are commentaries which are more narrowly focused on Micah.  The first one is a short, non-technical, practical commentary from “The Bible Speaks Today” series.  It is written by by David Prior and includes commentary on Joel and Habakkuk as well as Micah.  You can purchase it here.

The commentary that I used while studying through Micah is slightly more technical (although you don’t have to know Hebrew) but is still very pastoral and has some extremely insightful application points weaved in with the rest of the commentary.  Like the previous book, this one also includes commentary on two other books.  It is from the Tyndale Old Testament Commentary series, and you can purchase a copy here.

Pete Williams continues to do a fantastic job as the Warden of Tyndale House, Cambridge (an evangelical study center and library for  Biblical Studies in Cambridge). In addition to the inception of their Bible&Church conference, the latest example is 4gospels.com. Dr Williams and other top-notch N.T. scholars contribute to hard-but-simply-answered questions, such as:

• When was it decided there should be four gospels?
• Were gospels removed from the Bible? What makes the four gospels different?
• Is there any evidence for the reliability of the four gospels?

If you’re in the mood for some exploration on the unique historicity and reliability of the four gospels, spend some time on (or even bookmark) their site. 

Some of these issues were also dealt with at the beginning of our series on Luke: “What is the Gospel According to Luke? Can We Trust It?”

Tullian Tchividjian: 

One of the gospel’s most thrilling, life-giving, notes is that in Jesus I have all the acceptance I long for. The gospel rescues us from the fear of being rejected.

That fear looms large in all of us, though some have become quite sophisticated in trying to suppress and silence it.

We think our lives will become meaningful and worth living if we can just get in the right relationships with the right people, especially those who can help us reach where we want to go and get what we want to obtain, wherever and whatever that is. It could be the right level of income, or entry into the right social strata, or the right career, or the right marriage. If we can’t make our dreams a reality, whatever they are, then life isn’t worth living. We seek to gain that acceptance especially through our appearance, or our achievements, or our performance.

Read the rest here.

Last Sunday’s sermon looked at Luke 9. Below is a basic outline for the sermon.

THE CHAPTER IN EIGHT SCENES:

Scene 1: The twelve sent out on mission (1-11)

Scene 2: Five thousand fed (12-17)

Scene 3:  Peter’s confession (18-21); Prediction of Jesus’ death (22); Discipleship explained (23-27)

Scene 4: The transfiguration (28-36)

Scene 5: A demon possessed boy healed (37-45)

Scene 6: Who is the greatest? (46-48)

Scene 7: Who is for us and who is against us? An outsider who heals in Jesus’ name? (49-50); Inhospitable Samaritans? (52-56)

Scene 8: Discipleship explained again (57-62)

CONNECTING DOTS BETWEEN THE STORIES

1.  It’s time to get more clear about who Jesus is

• He’s the commissioner of the disciples (1-6)
• He’s the Elijah-like Prophet (8, 19, 30)
• He’s a miraculous provider (12-17)
• He’s the Christ (20-21)
• He’s the friend of Elijah and Moses (30-31)
• He’s the unique glory of God incarnate (32, 34-35)
• He’s uniquely sovereign over demons – unlike the disciples (40-43)
• He came to save, not destroy (56)
• He’s on a mission – He’s “determined to go to Jerusalem” (51)

2.  It’s time to tell the disciples of his impending death

• Herod is growing concerned (7-9) – this is Luke tipping his hand about what’s to come
• Jesus explicitly says that he will suffer and die and be raised (22, 44)
• His disciples will have to follow him to take up their cross (23) 
• He was “determined to go to Jerusalem” (51) 
• In light of v 51, the significance of v 31 becomes clearer (“they were speaking of His departure which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem”)

3.  It’s time to start to pass the mission on to the disciples

• Disciples go out as an extension of Jesus and his ministry (1-2, 6)
• Disciples are to join Jesus in seeking salvation of the lost (54-56)
• Disciples are not to be rivals (49-50)

4.  It’s time to fully warn of the sacrifice and single-focus of the mission

• Disciples go out expecting their provision to come from God (3)
• Disciples go out anticipating rejection and suffering (5, 23-27)
• Disciples are to be child-like, not jockeying for greatness (46-48)
• Disciples go out in sacrifice and with a singular focus (57-62)

5.  It’s time for the disciples to start to really get all of this

There are a couple examples of them getting it in this chapter:
• When they’re sent out with nothing and return with a good report  (1-11)
• Peter’s confession (20)

There are more examples of the disciples not getting it (being knuckleheads):
• Peter doesn’t understand the utter uniqueness of Jesus in God’s plan (32-35)
• Jesus is frustrated with the disciples’ failure to cast out a demon (40-41)
• They did not understand what he said about his death (44-45; cf 22)
• They debate among themselves about which of them is the greatest (46)
• They wonder if they should oppose an outsider who works in Jesus’ name (49)
• They wonder if they should call down destruction on inhospitable Samaritans (53-54)