by Bret Capranica | Aug 11, 2009 | Featured Articles, Pastoral Ministry, Prayer
Here again are a few notes I took while on a recent planning retreat from John Piper’s Brothers We Are Not Professionals. This time on how ministry itself can quickly become an enemy to our primary priorities, namely, prayer: Chapter 9 – Brothers, Beware of Sacred Substitutes 59 – Ministry is its own worst enemy. It is not destroyed by the big, bad wolf of the world. It destroys itself. 60 – Charles Spurgeon put it like this: “Those incessant knocks at our door, and perpetual visits from idle persons, are so many buckets of cold water thrown upon our devout zeal. We must by some means secure uninterrupted meditation, or we shall lose power.” Without extended and consecrated prayer, the ministry of the Word withers up and bears no fruit. Without extended, concentrated prayer, the ministry of the Word withers. And when the ministry of the Word declines, faith (Rom. 10:17; Gal 3:2, 5) and holiness (John 17:7) decline. Activity may continue, but life and power and fruitfulness fade away. Therefore, whatever opposes prayer opposes the whole work of ministry. 61 – But the apostles would not yield to the temptation. This must mean that prayer demanded a large part of their uninterrupted time. If they had thought of prayer as something you do while washing dishes or cooking (or driving a car between hospitals), they would not have seen table-serving as a threat to prayer. Prayer was a time-consuming labor during which other duties had to be set aside. 62 – So the apostles were saying: No Matter how urgent the pressures upon us to spend our time...
by Bret Capranica | Aug 9, 2009 | Biblical Studies, Preaching
Here’s a few salient quotes from last week’s study of Zephaniah 1:2-13: On verse 4: Zephaniah 1:4 “So I will stretch out My hand against Judah And against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, And the names of the idolatrous priests along with the priests. Baal was the god of productivity: his function in Canaanite religion was to make land, animals, and humans fertile. Baal was another name for the gross national product, and wherever people see bank balances, prosperity, a sound economy, productivity, and mounting exports as the essence of their security, Baal is still worshiped. Baal was also the god of religious excitement and sexual free-for-all. Human sexual acts were publicly offered to h im to prompt him to perform his work of fertilization. No wonder his officiants were called the “frenzied ones.” Wherever excitement in religion becomes an end in itself and wherever the cult of “what helps” replaces joy in “what”™s true,” Baal is worshiped. On verse 12: Zephaniah 1:12 “It will come about at that time That I will search Jerusalem with lamps, And I will punish the men Who are stagnant in spirit, Who say in their hearts, “˜The Lord will not do good or evil!”™ This is not atheism as a dogma but practical atheism; it does not say, “God is not there,” but, “God is not here” ““ not that God does not exist but that he does not matter. In relation to this philosophy of life, the prophet reveals both the mind of God and the mind of humans:...
by Bret Capranica | Aug 8, 2009 | Personal, Technology
UPDATE: Check out THIS article that says what I liked about the store is really not all that good. Hmm. Apple is an awesome experience in my book. Since recently converting to exclusively using Macs in my work and personal worlds, I have continually been amazed at the ease, simplicity – well, the enjoyment of working with them. I haven’ had a downside yet (I would like a little more RAM in my iMac – but that will be soon, and I’ll write about the experience). One experience, yesterday, had me wowed with Apple. It was a first for me and I left enjoying the Apple experience all over again. It is simple, not particularly important; but it did leave an impression on me. While waiting for my wife and kids to arrive from a train ride, I was contemplating how to use the extra time. Find an Apple store, of course. So, while driving, I opened up Google search on my iPhone and said (I love the voice capability of that app) “Apple Store Oceanside, California.” It found it “presto,” and with one click I had it pull up a map to the store from my current location. Great, 8 miles from where I would meet up with the family. When I walked into the store I was immediately greeted by one of the “blue shirted” dudes who welcomed me to “Apple.” I really wasn’t looking for anything in particular, just wanted to look around, which they encouraged me to do. As I was considering the plethora of car kits and carrying cases for my iPhone, I came across exactly...
by Bret Capranica | Aug 7, 2009 | Twitter
Headed to pastor James Jenny Lyn’s wedding shower # Neck deep into grammar, syntax, commentaries and meditation on Zeph 1:2-13. I’m deeply convicted already. # Ok still not done with Zephaniah, but time to take the wild one’s out for a walk. # Done for the evening. A bit more to finish up very early tomorrow morning. # Up and somewhat at’em this morning. Preaching twice today, so lots to pray about and a few things to finish preparing for. # Enjoyed preaching at Valle Vista Baptist this morning. Now to do a little prep for tonight’s sermon in Zephaniah and then a finance meeting. # Preacher went WAY long tonight. Thank goodness the ice cream for the fellowship afterward did not melt. Now to bed. # With such an early start and late finish yesterday, I’m running a bit late today. Oh well, begining the day in prayer and the word. # Just finished nice date night with Kelly playing golf I won’t say who won # Reading through the headlines and now to the word, prayer, and a little Sibbes. # Headed to the gym # It’s an admin day- a glorious admin day. Working through piles of e-mail right now-actually some fun stuff. # I’m headed home I’m through with administration for today # Family time # Fun time with the fam. I’m beat-time to kick back. To bed! # Up to the aroma of Italian Roast. Time to pray and get into the Study of Baptism for class tonight. # Home alone, missing the wife and kids who are enjoying Oceanside. I hope to meet...
by Bret Capranica | Aug 7, 2009 | Prayer, Southern Baptist Issues
Dr. Ronnie Floyd, Chairman of GCR Task Force from Ronnie Floyd on Vimeo. This past June, the Southern Baptist Convention launched what some have touted to be one of the most historic of movements: the Great Commission Resurgence. Time will tell what the new GCR Task Force will recommend. As they do their work, the GCR team has put together a web-site calling people to pray for a/the Great Commission Resurgence. According to the site: Why We Need A Great Commission Resurgence: The churches of the Southern Baptist Convention are yearning for a new day of Great Commission awakening and commitment. They sense both a need and a rare opportunity to come together to reclaim the missional vision that brought us together from the first. A new generation of Southern Baptists is ready for deployment in the service of the Great Commission ““ and waiting to see if Southern Baptists are ready to send, support, and propel this generation out to the nations. Will we do what it takes to send those God is calling? Many of our churches ““- perhaps 70% “” are plateaued or declining. They need a Great Commission Resurgence starting right where they are. A Great Commission Resurgence has to start right at home. Southern Baptists have much work to do reaching America in a multicultural, multiethnic, multilingual era. We need a Great Commission Resurgence that will make us do whatever it takes to reach America with the Gospel. Southern Baptists need a Great Commission Resurgence that will reorder our priorities, refocus our vision, reclaim our mission, and set our hearts on seeing the nations...
