Dwell With Christ
  • Home
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact
Picture

Categories

All
Advent
Bible Reading
Biblical Worldview
Black Friday
Black HIstory Month
Book Reviews
Busyness
Christian Living
Christmas
Devotional Life
Meditation
#minutemondays
New Year
Prayer
Productivity
Reading
Reformed Theology
Sanctification
Social Issues
Spiritual Disciplines

Archives

January 2023
April 2022
February 2022
January 2022
December 2021
November 2021
August 2021
June 2021
April 2021
March 2021
February 2021
January 2021
December 2020
November 2020
September 2020
August 2020
July 2020
June 2020
May 2020
April 2020
March 2020
February 2020
January 2020
December 2019
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
June 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019
December 2018
November 2017

Are You A Durable Leader?

6/25/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
"It is my hope that you'll treat this book more like a tornado siren than a wet floor sign."

​Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I Wish I Had This Book Years Ago
I remember like it was yesterday. I had just moved away home for the first time in my life.  I walked into a middle school gym in West Knoxville, greeted by a young guy named Wes. Soon after, I was approached by an energetic, red-bearded, bald guy who was the lead pastor Legacy Knoxville. His frame, reminiscent of collegiate distance runners who sport $400 Garmin watches and heart rate monitoring chest straps, was a picture of health! Since church planters are usually the crazy guys who have caffeine piped in via IV, work 100 hours a week, and somehow manage to keep their hipster beards perfectly groomed, I didn't think twice about Luke's health or ability to get the job done.

Months later, I was sitting with him at a coffee shop discussing a leadership cohort at Legacy and having accountability discussions with him when he told me the story of his burnout several years prior. I had never heard of burnout and still couldn't imagine a pastor being unable to get out of bed. God is sovereign, right? He can keep pastors from being weak and burning out!

Though I took Luke seriously, I couldn't imagine ever burning out. I was a millennial in the invincible stage of life known as "the 20's".  Sometime after that conversation, I attended a conference called "How To Screw Up a Church" in which he discussed burnout among other topics. Still feeling invincible, I agreed with a close friend that we didn't need to be legalistic about sleep and diet because God will use us as He sees fit. If Spurgeon, Calvin, and Luther could survive on little to no sleep, so can I!

It wasn't until I moved back home, changed jobs, lost a cousin and grandfather in two months, starting raising my second daughter, and hit some significant financial struggles that I experienced a season of burnout. I wasn't even an elder yet, but I was preaching some, teaching Sunday School, leading a community group, and seriously discussing the possibility of becoming a pastor at my local church. At the same time, I couldn't sleep, my acid reflux was worse than ever, I developed some serious IBS symptoms that got me in trouble at work, my anxiety skyrocketed, and my energy plummeted. I couldn't figure out what was wrong with me!

I was I had Leadership Durability back then.

Leadership Durability by Luke Thomas is one of those books that you'll probably read through the first time and say, "Ah, that doesn't apply to me". Your pastor friends will, too. They will probably push back with some pious rejections about how we need to trust God more than diet, sleep, medicine, etc. I've been on both sides of these conversations, feeling overly skeptical sometimes and bitterly frustrated at others.

If Luke didn't write this book, I would be inclined to believe the same thing. If I hadn't seen pastors in my own life on the verge of burnout, I would think otherwise. If it weren't for my own experiences with overwork and constant stress, I would write this book off, too. It is my hope that you'll treat this book more like a tornado siren than a wet floor sign. For many of us—whether we are leaders or not—the ominous clouds, cool wind, and rumbling thunder in the distance have been ignored for too long. It's time to take cover.

"I'm thankful to have met Luke, and it is my hope that you'll treat this book more like a tornado siren than a wet floor sign."
​

Needfully Provocative
Some authors are unnecessarily provocative. Luke isn't one of them. Sometimes we need Terry Tate, The Office Linebacker (be prepared for some language if you look him up!) to slam us into the wall when we do stupid stuff. In many ways, Luke offers a much needed and well appreciated wounding to my ego. I'll leave you with a few examples:
  • If you think you can eat whatever junk you want and trash your body, remember that "food is killing more leaders than booze" (p. 181).
  • Have you ever uttered the phrase, "I'll sleep when I die?", Luke responds: "What if it's not masculine, tough, spiritual, or entrepreneurial to get very little sleep? What if it's just sin dressed up?" (p. 101).
  • When sabbath and good rest are pushed to the back burner, it's a good reminder that "our dumbest decisions are made with depleted reserves" (p. 133).
  • For the leaders who don't bother with exercise or stress management, don't forget that "in layman's terms, when you live on stress, you get a beer belly" and develop deadly fat around vital organs (p. 212).
There are many more quotes, data points, and soul-probing questions for leaders to consider. I've merely skimmed the surface! Ironically, we look at professional athletes and admire their fitness and seemingly super-human abilities only to gnash our teeth at the very practices and advice that keep them in top physical, mental, and emotional shape. Leaders, this is our folly!

Well-Researched

As a hungry reader and semi-professional Googler, I do a lot of research. I found out the other night that mid back pain is a sure sign of cancer, even though it's likely to be a pulled muscle or minor strain that a chiropractor adjustment and some physical therapy can fix. I've read up on adrenal fatigue, burnout, fad diets and their thousands of alterations, masterclasses for more energy, HIIT training techniques, and much more! However, I've never actually been to a naturopathic doctor, read books and research papers on these topics, received extensive testing and diagnosis of issues, or worked with specialists in these fields.

Leadership Durability boasts a hefty lists of references from noteworthy Christian authors from Kevin DeYoung and Jerry Bridges to experts in productivity, nutrition, and health like Cal Newport and Ben Greenfield. Luke disperses technical language, relevant quotes, and clear explanations to help readers understand the nuance and validity of his recommendations as well as the depth of research behind them. Aside from reading this book, I now have a wealth of resources to dive deeper into specific areas Luke covered. 

Biblically Grounded
Luke Thomas pastors a local church. More specifically, he is one of the pastors at Legacy Knoxville, and he penned Leadership Durability with a desire to help other pastors and leaders lead well. He lays out copious amounts of scientific and psychological research to back his points, yet he is more concerned with being godly, Christ-honoring pastors. In order to do this we have to humble, and "the key here is to be totally honest with yourself, freely acknowledging you’re a cracked and imperfect jar of clay that God has grace and love for. Health and growth begins here" (p. 63).

In one of his frequent reminders to find true rest, Luke cuts deep and urges that "if you’re interested in avoiding burnout, or are attempting to come out of burnout, you must find rest, find it often, and do it to the glory of God!" (p. 174). He is not offering secular psychology or worldly self-help, because the results will only be superficial and short-lived. For pastors and godly leaders in a variety of fields, this is never enough. Rather, we must make it our life's goal to preach the gospel to ourselves and remember Jesus' powerful—and deeply truthful—words, "apart from Me, you can do nothing" (John 15:5). 

If you're a leader, get your hands on Leadership Durability. We're not invincible and we're certainly not beyond the need to grow in some of the most vital areas of our lives. If you're not a leader, you can still benefit from much of what Thomas teaches here. Pastors love gifts, especially good books! Grab a copy for your pastor!

Leadership Durability by Luke Thomas will be released on June 28th, 2019. Pre-orders are available now!
0 Comments

Fathers, We Need The Gospel

6/17/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
Image Courtesy Of: Alexander Iby (https://www.lifeofpix.com/photographers/alex-iby/)
Fatherhood Problems
I jokingly sent the following Father's Day sermon outline to a pastor friend who asked me to preach at his church on Sunday morning.

Three C’s of fatherhood are:
  1. Cultivate athletes
  2. Create fun
  3. Come to church

In reality, this isn't far from our culture’s view of fatherhood, and this deficient view has even crept into the church. Too many wives and mothers sit alone on Sunday morning. A woman begs her husband to come to church. She prays fervently to get him to show up on a Wednesday night. If she can coax him to lead a class one time, she feels like she's got the next John Piper!

Of course, I’m being facetious, but why are  61% of our churches made up of women? In a country with 97 males for every 100 females, why are so few men and fathers attending a local church? The answer vary, and pragmatism won't fix the problem. How men can be spiritual leaders in their homes when they're actively neglecting the local gathering (Hebrews 10:25).

There is a fatherhood crisis in our culture, and it's a not a social problem. It's a spiritual problem. God programs aren't cure, Good News is. The issue is more than mere presence, we have a problem of purpose.

Where have all the fathers gone?

We need fathers in our homes flipping through books and tucking their children in bed. Our children must hear the gospel preached and see God's power in their homes every day. Little boys long to see their father pursue his wife in ways that movies refuse to portray. Our daughters yearn to see a man who models the biblical standards they'll one day seek in a husband.

The world needs fathers who believe the gospel and point their children to God’s grace in their obedience as well as their failures. Are you doing your part?


No DIY
Youtube is a double-edged sword. Anytime an average Joe can film himself on a smartphone and influence people, it's destined to fail miserably. However, Youtube is great for many reasons, especially my DIY needs. I'm broke and always looking to fix things myself.

When my dishwasher flooded the kitchen floor, some plumber taught me how to replace the gaskets that were leaking. When the dishes wouldn't come clean, another Youtube plumber taught me how to remove the milling blade and clear out the filters. I wouldn't call myself a handy man or Mr. Fix It, but I got the job done. 

Too often we think the Bible is like Youtube. Something needs to be fixed and we've seen plenty of fathers go to church, read the Bible, and do better. It's a fatal misconception. While Christian bookstores and pulpits across the globe are filled self-help practices and DIY guides guaranteeing results, the reality is that the solution is outside of yourself. There aren't 10 steps or 5 C's to become a better dad. Becoming a godly father is often a grueling process of failures and success resembling a rollercoaster rather than a steep ramp.

Fathers, we need the gospel. 

​"A surefire way to destroy your home is to try to fix it yourself."
​
Without the Gospel...
1. Without the gospel, you are dead in your sins. Christ alone brings redemption through His blood (Ephesians 1:7), and we are all sinners who have earned the wages of death. Only Christ can bring us the forgiveness we vitally need. Until we believe the gospel and trust in Him, we remain dead (Ephesians 2:1). Not paralyzed. Not weak. Dead. Dead people don't fix things. A surefire way to destroy your home is to try to fix it yourself.

​2. Without the gospel, you are spiritually fatherless. Through Christ, believers have access in one Spirit to the Father (Ephesians 2:18). The Holy Spirit—the Spirit of adoption—in us cries out, “Abba, Father” to remind us that we are God's children. As a child of God you have a loving, caring Father who loved you enough to send His Son to die on the cross for you. God is merciful, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, and faithful toward His children (Psalm 86:15). Until you become God's child, you are a spiritual orphan.

3. Without the gospel, you have no power. If you want to live a powerless life, live a gospel-less life. You may be able to go to work, pay the bills, and berate your family into submission, but you’ll never have the power to be a godly father. You're weak and deficient at worst and self-congratulatory and prideful at best. Worst of all, you’ll never be able to obey the clear biblical commands. God’s power works mightily in the heart of every believer, building us together into a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 2:22). Left to yourself, you can do nothing.

4. Without the gospel, your message is hypocritical. Without believing the gospel yourself, you walk in contradiction each time you call your children to believe the gospel. You can tell them to love God, but you can't love Him yourself. You aren't being strengthened through the Spirit to understand the love of Christ that surpasses all understanding. Even a vast theological library and expansive knowledge of scripture won’t be enough to show your children the power of the gospel in your life. Only God can. He does this as you behold Christ and His Spirit transforms you from the inside out (2 Corinthians 3:18). Minus the gospel, your life will be that of a graceless hypocrite.

5. Without the gospel, you’ll have no victory in spiritual warfare. Since the Garden of Eden, we have seen Satan waging all out war on our souls, our families, and our communities. Unarmed and unguarded against our spiritual enemy, we are in a fearful place. In Christ you're guaranteed victory over sin and Satan—part victory now and ultimate victory when Christ returns. Not only did Jesus disarm Satan and his fallen angels, He has also already marched them around in a victory march broadcasting their shame (Colossians 2:15). He has triumphed over them in His resurrection, and in Him, you have died with Christ and been raised with Him. Arming yourself with only physical weaponry puts you in a losing battle on the defeated team.

"You may be able to go to work, pay the bills, and berate your family into submission, but you’ll never have the power to be a godly father."
​
Run To Jesus​ 
You need Christ to make you the father you want to be. If you don’t desire to be a godly father, beg God to give you the right desires. The greatest need for you and for your children is that you know Christ and point them to Him! Don't try harder in your own strength. You need to drop to the feet of Jesus and cry out for help. Don’t bruise yourself and wallow in the mire of your failure. Instead, set your eyes on the One who bore the cross and despised its shame. Cling to this great Savior who brings forgiveness only through His name! 

Take your fatherhood successes and failures to God in prayer. Confess your sins to God and earnestly seek forgiveness Turn from your insufficient fatherhood and cling to the heavenly Father who put perfect fatherhood on display. Pore over the scriptures and be the father God has called you to be.

Fathers, you are needed!
0 Comments

The Glory of Grace (Review)

6/17/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
"The Glory of Grace: An Introduction to the Puritans in The Own Words by Lewis Allen and Tim Chester is your welcome mat to the readings of Puritans. While they can hardly scratch the surface of these deeply biblical and grace-driven Christians in such a short volume, they will help whet your appetite to devour more of the Puritan literature and, most importantly, God’s Word."

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Have you ever heard a respected pastor bring a sermon quote that seemed to knock the wind right out of you? Maybe it was John Piper’s “Be killing sin or sin will be killing you”, as he famously quoted by John Owen. That one was a gamechanger for me. Perhaps it was a quote by Richard Sibbes, Richard Baxter, John Bunyan. Only a cursory reading of this era of Christian literature will leave your head spinning, bring conviction and encouragement, and give you a list of pithy quotes to pass on, paraphrase, or ponder in your reading and devotional time.

These men (and women like Anne Bradstreet) represent an amazing period of post-Reformation church history. The Puritans knew grace, committed themselves to education, longed to see the power of gospel transformation, and strove to know God above all else.

The Glory of Grace: An Introduction to the Puritans in The Own Words by Lewis Allen and Tim Chester is your welcome mat to the readings of Puritans. While they can hardly scratch the surface of these deeply biblical and grace-driven Christians in such a short volume, they will help whet your appetite to devour more of the Puritan literature and, most importantly, God’s Word.

The list of Puritans in this short volume is far from exhaustive but gives you a glimpse of the riches found in the writings of the Puritan era. Allen and Chester highlight the following Puritans pastors, authors, and poets:
  • Richard Sibbes
  • Thomas Goodwin
  • Samuel Rutherford
  • William Bridge
  • Jeremiah Burroughs
  • Anne Bradstreet
  • John Owen
  • Richard Baxter
  • John Bunyan
  • John Flavel
  • Thomas Boston

Each chapter includes a very brief biography of the author followed by excerpts of their most popular and noteworthy writings. Since the Puritan writings can be rough waters to wade through, Lewis and Allen gently edited their writings, replacing archaic words with contemporary ones as well as adding headings to aid in reading comprehension—think King James Version without “thee”, “thou”, or “superfluity of naughtiness”.

Whether you’re just getting introduced to the Puritans or have read several Puritan works, The Glory of Grace is a great introduction to the Puritans. As an avid reader, I always get excited to see recommended further readings. Every chapter, including the introduction, has them. Be sure to grab some of those readings—many found at Banner of Truth—and continue reading the Puritans. Not only will you get pithy quotes and convicting sermons, but you’ll also get biblical references galore. Consider The Glory of Grace a wade into the shallow end of rich Puritan theology.
0 Comments

ESV Prayer Bible (Review)

6/10/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
"The new ESV Prayer Bible from Crossway lends us a hand in our prayer lives, providing us with some helpful features sure to stir us to deeper prayer lives as we spend our devotional time in God’s Word."

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
​

Is your prayer life anemic and in need of a spark? I feel that way more often than I’d like to admit.  When I don’t use my Bible and notebook to pray, I end up rambling and chasing squirrels for 15 or 20 minutes—if I can last that long.  Even when I use the Bible, some portions lend themselves easily to prayer while others prove more challenging.

The new ESV Prayer Bible from Crossway lends us a hand in our prayer lives, providing us with some helpful features sure to stir us to deeper prayer lives as we spend our devotional time in God’s Word. If you want to grow in prayer, here are a few features that are sure to be a blessing to your prayer life:

1. An introduction to praying the Bible from Don Whitney, author of Pray the Bible. He offers “a simple, permanent, biblical solution” to our struggles with prayer, calling us to “speak to (God) about what we read, verse by verse, in the Bible”.

2. Nearly 400 prayers from theologians, pastors, and Christian writers throughout history have been weaved throughout this Bible. The prayers are easily distinguishable from the biblical text with a smaller and lighter font. This is my most favorite feature because I am encouraged by Spurgeon to pray in light of the truths in Numbers 13 or John Wesley in Proverbs 3. Our most favorite theologians, preachers, and writers were first men and women of prayer and we get a glimpse into the intimacy some of them had with God to stir us to more fervent and biblical prayer.

3. The author index features a skillfully illustrated portrait of each featured author with a brief biography of their lives and impacts. You’ll find writers and preachers such as Augustine, John Calvin, Martin Luther, John Newton, Blaise Pascal, Richard Sibbes, Charles Spurgeon, John Wesley, George Whitfield, and many more!*

4. The prayer index lists the scripture passages where prayers are found. What’s so cool about this index is that Crossway provides readers with the source of each prayer. For hungry or interested readers, this will be a great way to beef up your library with some excellent resources to spur on your prayer life!

The ESV Prayer Bible is a much-welcomed addition to my library and has already stirred up my prayer life. Seeing prayers in Numbers and Leviticus pushes me to read prayerfully, even in sections that don’t seem to be easily prayed through.

Grab a couple of copies and start praying through the Bible with someone!

*I noticed that some of the authors with featured prayers include post-Reformation Catholics, Anglo-Catholics, mystics, and others with whom you and I might disagree. For me, this doesn’t take away from the quality of this Bible because the majority of the prayers come from writers and preachers with whom I consider to have sound doctrine.
0 Comments
Picture
Dwell with Christ exists to encourage people from all walks of life to give their lives to fervent devotion to Jesus. For eternity, God's dwelling place will be with man, and we can experience a taste of the eternal glory now on this pilgrimage we call life.
​
Picture
© COPYRIGHT 2020. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Home
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact