Grace on Display

I'm at a Colloquy

This is my first colloquy. I'm at Pantego Christian Academy with my good friend and fellow worship leader, Ryan Clark. While I'm thrilled to attend a colloquy, I'm most excited to hear David Peterson, author of "Engaging With God." I'll do my best to take copious notes and share what I learn with you.

More to come later.

The Internet is a More God-Centered Place

We all have heroes in life. I'm thankful to say that my dad, Fred Campbell, is one of my heroes. I want you to find out why, and a great way to learn is to listen to him preaching. He recently started podcasting his sermons.

The most current series he's posted is entitled, "Living a Five Star Christian Life." Each star represents a different facet of the Christian life that is important to God (passion for Christ, a Godward purpose, excellence, integrity, etc…). The first four are already posted, and we are currently awaiting the fifth. I know that they will be helpful and challenging to you if you desire to live a life worthy of the Gospel.

You can listen to them online, download them, or subscribe to the podcast through itunes or a similar program. Click here to get started!

The Plot Twist Revisited

On Sunday, our Student/Education Minister, Rusty, preached while our Pastor was away leading a Pastor's conference in Tampico, Mexico. Rusty's general call to the church was to read the Old Testament, as if for the first time, and to see how Christ fulfills the promises given to Abraham, Moses, David, and so many others in between. Jesus is God's solution to fixing what humans have messed up. You can listen to the sermon by clicking here. (it's not posted yet, but I'll try to have it up by the end of the week).

I'm certainly not going to try and add to his message. I bring it up because I came across a blog entry by Tim Challies, and the sermon came to mind. The blog entry is the testimony of how God used an Old Testament passage to convert a man that grew up Jewish, who had renounced belief in God, but found himself and his wife at the mercies of Francis Schaeffer's (philosopher, theologian, scholar, all-around brilliant man) L'Abri (Christian community in Europe). You can find the blog entry here.

The story and the sermon causes a hymn by William Cowper (pronounced Cooper) to fly into my head. I'll let his words be the summary for this post:

God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never failing skill
He treasures up His bright designs
And works His sovereign will.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break
In blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.

Blind unbelief is sure to err
And scan His work in vain;
God is His own interpreter,
And He will make it plain.

You can find the text here, and a fantastic arrangement here.

Why Haven't I Been Blogging?

Where have I been?  What's been so important that I couldn't supply my sparse readership some tasty morsels of Campbellinian thought to pontificate?

A lot.  It's been a very, very busy month, but a good one.  The summer looks to be hectic as well with a mission trip, creative arts camp, and a recording project in the works.  My promise to the faithful few is to do what I can when I can.

On a separate note, Bethany (my daughter) took 7 (seven) steps today.  We were thrilled.  I usually try to extract some theological correlation with events like this.  Maybe "7 steps to a closer walk with God," or something like that...  However, I am content today to leave the celebration at Bethany taking 7 steps.  It was delightful.

I'm sure I'll have something in the next several days, so keep your web browsers ready.

Favorite T4G Quote #1

(While lamenting the lack of Christian women willing to sacrifice as Esther did)

Where are those women? Our church is crawling with 'em.

I love 'em. I want to marry ALL of 'em!

But…I'm too old.

And I'm married.

And I married one of 'em.

John Piper
T4G Message 08
(start listening at 19 minutes or so)

Dada

Yesterday I had one of the greatest experiences of my life, heretofore. Salvation will always rank at the very top, and being married to my wife will come directly after that. Next comes being Bethany's dad, and yesterday I had a stirring reminder of why.

So far, Bethany's utterances have been limited to "Mama," "Dada," "Baba," and the like. We could ask her, "Where's Dada?" and she would look at me. We could ask her, "Where's Mama?" and she would look directly at my wife. She would say "Mama" and "Dada" but wouldn't call her parents these names. Until yesterday. She looked at me, pointed with her chubby little finger, and said (I think) WITH UNDERSTANDING, "Dada." Becky and I both nearly lost it. Certainly she doesn't understand all of the implications of someone being her father. However, with as much understanding as an almost 1-year-old can have, she looked at me and called me Dada.

I have to spiritualize these moments because truth in our lives point us to a greater truth and greater reality. That moment was a clarification of Romans 8:15:

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!" (ESV)

Is there a more profound and affection stirring moment of worship than when those redeemed from slavery to sin, filled with the Spirit, point their hearts and minds at the heavenly Father, and cry out, WITH UNDERSTANDING, "Dada!" How I long for our services and lives to be filled with moments such as these.

Resources on the Cross

Resurrection Day is just around the corner. It certainly presents great opportunity to reach the CEO church attenders of Grand Prairie (Christmas and Easter Only). For that I am thankful, and look forward to the opportunity to share the Gospel. For Christians, Resurrection Sunday is a time to further strengthen our commitment to love, serve, declare, meditate on, etc… Jesus' death, burial and resurrection. It's not that March 24^th, 2008 is more special than any other Sunday, or that we are less committed to the Gospel the rest of the year (as we tend to be regarding the birth of Christ), but we take time to remember specific events of the final week of Jesus' life. So here are a few cross-centerd resources that I can recommend:

This is a combination of The Cross Centered Life and Christ Our Mediator. C.J. Mahaney has made it his goal in life to pass on his passion for the cross and I can't think of a better resource to recommend as we approach Resurrection Day. Though I've read it before, I am taking the time to read it again over the coming weeks. There are more technical books that I'll could recommend that deal with substitutionary atonement and are heavier reading, but Living the Cross Centered Life is very readable, engaging and thoughtful. You'll be reminded to rejoice at the unique benefits for believers because of Christ's work on the cross. There is great opportunity to pause and reflect on the depth of the love our Lord for us and the immense pain he bore. It is a great reminder of why I love Jesus. So, in addition to reading and re-reading the Gospel accounts, read this book.

 

J.S. Bach is usually my favorite composer. He was intentional with every note from a musical standpoint, but even more so from a theological standpoint. I can't think of any other work of his that this is more true of than his St. Matthew Passion (you can purchase the physical cds or purchase mp3s for immediate download). It does focus on the passion of Christ- his suffering- so make sure and follow up with something on the resurrection. In addition to the cd set, you'll want to click here to find some background info. and a side-by-side translation of the lyrics (courtesy of the Minnesota Public Radio site). This is the best recording that I've heard. So, in addition to reading and re-reading the Gospel accounts, listen to this.

 

My top recommendation is to pick up your nearest Bible and read eye-witness accounts of Jesus as he bore your sin on the cross. Read it slowly and let the truth of God's word impact your heart and stir your affections for him.

 

How Does He Do That?

We all have people for whom we carry a deep seated respect- often men or women that we have never met and will likely never meet.  There are several that fall into this category in my own life.  My dad, William Carey, John Piper, Adoniram Judson, and Fanny J. Crosby are just a few that I admire very deeply.  Often I read something by them, in some cases hear a sermon they preach and wonder, "How do they do that, and what kinds of things do I need to change in my life to have a relationship with Christ like they do/did?" 

Another such person is C.J. Mahaney.  I was reading his blog today and came across this quote that I thought was worth passing on.  He was discussing the need for pastors to read, but I thought his point was certainly applicable to every believer:

It is the example of a pastor over a period of years and decades that will make a difference in the life of a congregation. And therefore I want to guard my heart from growing familiar with the pastoral world, growing familiar with God’s Word, growing familiar with corporate worship, growing familiar when I am listening to preaching, growing familiar when I am taking communion, growing familiar with God. I want to guard my heart from that. And the best way I can do that is by attending to his Word and applying his Word to my heart on a daily basis. I think that is the most effective way I can serve those I care for and those I have been called to serve and lead.

As we approach the time of year we give special attention to the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord, let's seize every opportunity to guard our hearts against familiarity with the Gospel.   As C.J. says, "The best way [we] can do that is by attending to his Word and applying his Word to [our hearts] on a daily basis."

$6 CD Sale Extended

Great news.  Apparently the Sovereign Grace Music sale is going very well, and they are extending the sale through March.  So, you can pick up accompaniment tracks, and cds for only $6.  Plus free shipping!  You can't beat that.  Great music at a great price.  Not sure what to buy?  See my previous post about recommendations.

Successful Corporate Worship

Ever wonder what the definition of a "successful " Sunday morning looks like for a worship leader?  Believe me, I think about it all the time.  Here is Bob Kauflin's definition as given to a group of band leaders and production staff at Mars Hill Church in Seattle:

I started by saying that only God ultimately knows what’s going on in people’s hearts. But we’re called to be faithful. So I shared that I begin by making sure I have a clear and biblical goal - to magnify the glory of God in Christ. It’s not to have a great musical experience, to pull off a flawless presentation, or to pump people up. We should want people to walk away with a clearer view of the Savior, with more love for him in their hearts, and with a greater desire to obey him in all of life. With a clear goal, I then plan to achieve that goal. So I pick songs that are filled with the gospel and biblical truth and appropriate expressions of response. I plan to say something that will help people understand why we’re singing. I arrange the songs so that the music is a servant to the words and not the main focus. During the meeting, I try to remain aware of how the congregation is engaging with what’s going on. If I sense that people aren’t involved or responding, I do what I can to direct their focus to the works and worthiness of God. If I do all those things, I think I’ve had a “successful” time of corporate worship.

So, when you leave Sunday morning (or afternoon, depending on which service you attend), what makes the morning a success or failure for you?  Are there Biblical passages that support your definition of a "success?"