Shepherd the Flock

Another year has come and gone. Time sure seems to fly by once marriage and children set in. As I reflect on this year, 2007, I must say that it has been one of, if not *the* toughest year of my life. Congruent with that, of course, is that I (and my family) have grown more spiritually this year, by leaps and bounds, than we ever have before. Sanctification surely does come through trials and troubles and not ease and comfort, despite the pain of the current moment.

The Puritan Vincent Alsop once said,

“It is a great blemish that professors give the face of their religion; that we hear much and often of their complaints, but seldom of their praises.”

I’d like to echo this sentiment by emphasizing the wonders that Christ has bestowed on me in 2007, even if they came by fire:

Praise be to the Lord for…

• Revealing to me the subtlety of bitterness and the damage that it does to the heart.
• Humbling me in my marriage, in my job, in school, and in our former church, using some of the most painful means possible. The fruit from these experiences was bitter going down, but sweet in the end as Christ has pulled me closer to His bosom by weaning me from myself.
• Showing me the beauty and necessity of private worship, family worship, and reverent, corporate worship where Christ and His graces are truly meditated on, appreciated, adored, exalted, and magnified.
• Purging our finances to the point where wastefulness had to be cut out, prayer was needed for provision, and faithful imitators of Christ were the means in which Christ rushed to our aide.
• Demonstrating in my life how damaging unconfessed sin is to the soul, no matter how small.
• Godly men, recently coming into my life, who adorn the gospel of Christ and who have taught me the excellencies of practical, simplistic, humble and sincere Godliness.
• Bringing the Puritans into my life as never before.
• Teaching me that time spent with the family is of far more importance and value that time spent blogging and/or surfing blogs.
• Teaching me the value and necessity of: the Sabbath principle (regular, dedicated worship on the Lord’s Day); worship that is according to scripture and the graces that come from that when rightly improved upon; the Lord’s Supper as the balm for the sinner rather than the fear of judgment it is often caricatured as; fervently looking for, recognizing, examining, and meditating on Christ, His image, His nature, His graces, and His offices, specifically in regards to the hymns of the saints, the prayer of the saints, the preaching of His word, and the ordinances of baptism and the sacraments.
• Showing me the excellency of recognizing Christ’s image stamped upon His saints, and giving thanks and praise for that, rather than first noticing their faults and shortcomings.
• Teaching my family, by experience, how to truly love through ‘covering a multitude of sins’, rather than going straight to step one of church discipline upon every little grievance.
• Demonstrating and revealing the high calling of pastoral leadership, and the necessity of personal shepherding, beginning in our own homes, that is a vital and essential part of the job.
• Revealing Christ to me and my family as never before: His offices of Prophet, Priest, and King; His willingness to forgive and His arms which always beckon sinners to come; His majesty as He is currently ruling on high –the picture in Revelation chapters 1 – 3 that communicates His risen glory; His patience and forbearance to His people, though we are so quick to try and hold others accountable for their sins against us.
• Finally, above all else, afflicting me to the point where prayer was the only place to turn. My prayer life has been completely turned around and rejuvenated, as has my wife’s. Never before have I seen its importance. Never before have I seen its vital necessity. As Thomas Brooks as said: “The power of religion and godliness lives, thrives, or dies, as closet prayer lives, thrives, or dies.” Praise be to the Lord for teaching me and my family the depth of this truth, and for using whatever means necessary to bring us to our knees.

Books:
From the list of books I read in 2007, here is the very best of the best. I strongly recommend these as extremely profitable for the Christian life:

• Contending for our All, John Piper.
• Keeping the Heart, John Flavel.
• Doctrine of Repentance, Thomas Watson.
• The Forgotten Spurgeon, Iain Murray.
• George Whitefield, Arnold Dallimore.
• The Golden Booklet for the True Christian Life, John Calvin.
• Life and Diary of David Brainerd, edited by Jonathan Edwards.
• True Christian’s Love for the Unseen Christ, by Thomas Vincent.
• The Secret Key to Heaven, Thomas Brooks.
• The Crook in the Lot, Thomas Boston.
• The Reformed Pastor, Richard Baxter.
• The Family, Robert Andrews.
• Body of Divinity, Thomas Watson.

That’s all for 2007, folks. May you be encouraged and Christ be exalted through this short testimony of my life during the last 12 months.