December 11, 2009
From a post by Sinclair Ferguson.
“The Western world gives itself over annually to its Claus-mass or commerce-mass. We celebrate a reworked pagan Saturnalia of epic proportions, one in which the only connection with the incarnation is semantic. Santa is worshiped, not the Savior; pilgrims go to the stores with credit cards, not to the manger with gifts. It is the feast of indulgence, not of the incarnation.
It is always easier to lament and critique the new paganism of secularism’s blatant idolatry than to see how easily the church — and we ourselves — twist or dilute the message of the incarnation in order to suit our own tastes. But, sadly, we have various ways of turning the Savior into a kind of Santa Claus.”
Read the whole thing.
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Posted by joshuaotte
December 2, 2009
Being a pastor in the woods of Maine, I was overjoyed to read this recent post from Tim Keller. With so much emphasis on urban church planting these days it’s quite rare to hear such encouraging words to consider pursuing ministry in a rural setting. After Keller’s litany of good reasons for being a ‘country parson’ he wisely cautions us to not view the pastorate of a small church as a mere stepping stone. This quote is worth a million Dunkin Donuts coffees.
Young pastors should not turn up their noses at such places, where they may learn the full spectrum of ministry tasks and skills as they will not in a large church. Nor should they go to small communities looking at them merely as stepping stones in a career. Why not? Your early ministry experience will only prepare you for ‘bigger things,’ if you don’t aspire for anything bigger than investment in the lives of the people around you. Wherever you serve, put your roots down, become a member of the community and do your ministry with all your heart and might. If God opens the door to go somewhere else, fine and good. But don’t go to such places looking at them only as training grounds for ‘real ministry.’
Thank you Tim Keller! May God raise up many men to serve Christ’s Church…even where there’s not a Starbucks within 20 miles!
3 Comments | Pastoral, church, leadership, rural | Permalink
Posted by joshuaotte
October 19, 2009
I haven’t seen the movie, but I really like Russell Moore’s take on it. Here’s his conclusion.
Where the Wild Things Are isn’t going to be a classic movie the way it is a classic book. But the Christian discomfort with wildness will be with us for a while. And it’s the reason too many of our children find Maurice Sendak more realistic than Sunday school.
Too many of our Bible study curricula for children declaw the Bible, excising all the snakes and dragons and wildness. We reduce the Bible to a set of ethical guidelines and a text on how gentle and kind Jesus is. The problem is, our kids know there are monsters out there. God put that awareness in them. They’re looking for a sheep-herding dragon-slayer, the One who can put all the wild things under His feet.
Read the whole thing.
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Posted by joshuaotte
October 14, 2009
I’m super pumped to announce that I’ll be in the studio this week recording a 6 song EP. The songs include…
- “There is a Fountain” (William Cowper)
- “He is Risen!” (Eric Schumacher)
- “Come Lord Jesus to Redeem Us” (Gary Parrett)
- “Upon this Mount (Isaiah 25:6-9) (Gary Parrett)
- “Look Ye Saints the Sight is Glorious”(Thomas Kelly)
- “Christ is Coming! Let Creation” (John R. MacDuff)
Each of these songs build the theme of Redemption from Jesus’ crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension to our waiting for his return and our celebration of his return. This is an exciting project not only for me but also for our music team, our church and Jesus’ Church everywhere because the end result will be more Truth-saturated music in the ears, hearts and minds of many!
4 Comments | Jesus, gospel, music, worship | Permalink
Posted by joshuaotte
October 8, 2009
Again we exhort the believer—guard against the least declension in prayer; let the first unfavorable symptom that appears alarm you, go to the Lord in your worst frames; stay not from Him until you get a good one. Satan’s grand argument to keep a soul from prayer is—”Go not with that cold and insensible frame; go not with that hard and sinful heart; stay until you are more fit to approach God!” and listening to this specious reasoning, many poor, distressed, burdened, longing souls have been kept from the throne of grace, and consequently from all comfort and consolation. But the gospel says—”Go in your very worst frames;” Christ says—”Come just as you are;” and every promise and every example but encourages the soul to repair to the cross, whatever be its frame or condition.
–Octavius Winslow, Evening Thoughts:Daily Walking With God, October 5
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Posted by joshuaotte
August 18, 2009
It is Satan’s great effort to keep you from Jesus. By holding up to your view a false picture of His character, from which everything loving, winning, inviting, and attractive is excluded, by suggesting wrong views of His work, in which everything gloomy, contracted, and repulsive is foisted upon the mind; by assailing the atonement, questioning the compassion, and limiting the grace of Christ, he would persuade you that in that heart which bled on Calvary there is no room for you, and that upon that work which received the Father’s seal there is not breadth sufficient for you to stand. All his endeavors are directed, and all his assaults are shaped, with a view to keep your soul back from Christ. It is thus he seeks to vent his wrath upon the Savior, and his malignity upon you.
–Octavius Winslow, Morning Thoughts, August 18
Leave a Comment » | Christ-centered, Cross, Jesus, Satan, Temptation, faith, quotes | Permalink
Posted by joshuaotte
One of my favorite sources of music for not only gathered worship but also driving down the road is 