Redeeming Controversial Material

I have recently come across several situations where I use controversial material to help shepherd the flock. Can you please give us your wisdom on the subject of "How can we redeem controversial material."

I have three examples of material that I use on a regular basis:

1. Baby Wise 
   Many people in our fellowship group have expressed frustration in helping their babies sleep through the night. Many of them struggling for 12-18 months. In one particular case I asked the father if he had read Baby Wise,  he said, "No I heard that book was controversial." (So how do I redeem this material to help this tired family?)  I explained that there are some goofy concepts in the latter part of the book, but the first couple chapters do a good job defining philosophies such as, "Who knows what's best for the baby: the baby or the parent?" There is also practical wisdom on how to get your baby on a schedule and help them fall asleep without the need of any sleeping aids. I told him it really just comes down to doing some math about how long your baby has slept and ate, and where they are in the day. The father being a computer programer said, "You can't argue with math." Haha, well said.


2. The 5 Love Languages
   I recently gave out a sheet with these 5 descriptions from Chapman on how to express love to your spouse. A very godly and discerning husband later gave me the link to an article from the Journal of Biblical Counseling dealing with the biblical problems with this book. It seems as though Powlison, the author of the article, does not see much redeeming value in these 5 descriptions of love. I am thankful for what this article brought to my attention, I'm not borrowing the 5LL from Chapman, I stole them and reconfigured them biblically. Is this a good approach? Can we redeem these 5LL without confusing people or having them think we are taking them down the enlightened road of psychology?


3. Way of the Master
   Jessie Johnson has already opened this can of worms and John MacArthur closed it. But it is another good example about how to make sure that we are redeeming good concepts and not burning them down just because they become controversial. You don't have to destroy something to help people's decrement. Sometimes I feel like people are yelling at me, GET RID OF THE OVEN IN YOUR HOUSE OTHERWISE YOUR KIDS MAY GET BURNED!! Ok, but how am I going to cook my food? I DON'T KNOW, BUT DON'T USE AN OVEN - FOR YOUR KIDS SAKES! Why can't I just train my children to not touch the oven?

For those who wish to stay on the log.

Wedding Bells

I may have the opportunity to officiate my first wedding ceremony. This is a scary thing for me.

Some of you have already done a wedding or two. What have you men learned from your experience? What counsel do you all have for doing weddings? Should I do pre-marital? How long? What resources are good?

Also, what principles should direct us if we are marrying a non-Christian couple? What standards do we hold them to?

Summer Reading: Pilgrim's Progress

I am considering having my JH/HS students read Pilgrim's Progress this summer. Any thoughts on this?
Does anybody know of a good version for students to read? Are there good study questions I should use? Thanks.

Why Study Biblical Languages

Horses fascinate my wife. She is mesmerized by their beauty, by their strength, and their graceful gallup. However, I like a different type of horses.....Hobby-Horse :).

We all know that we have some and frequently despise them when we hear others "ranting and raving" about something. One of mine is the "importance of biblical languages" for the pastoral office, expositor's of God's word, scholarship, etc.

Over the years, I have spent numerous hours attempting to gain further insight in grammar and translation. It was something I made a priority in my studies, so much so, that it sometimes impeded my theological development.

I have a few questions for you guys if you wouldn't mind humoring me for a bit.

1. What are reasons seminaries should/shouldn't make "Biblical Languages" a priority.

2. In the heat of ministry, what are problems that you have found within the realm of "biblical languages."

3. How are the biblical languages apart of your current life?

4. What resources would currently help you in your local church ministry to maintain language studies? Or is that not a focus?

5. If you had a disciplee desiring ministry and you began to train him in Biblical languages, not necessarily methodology, but how would you cultivate the necessity of Biblical Languages?

6. What are some good articles, quotes, statements, etc. you have found on the "why's" of knowing the biblical languages.

Some resources:

John Piper, "Brothers, Bitzer was a Banker," in Brothers, We are not Professionals.

Martin Luther stated the following: "Let us be sure of this: we will not long preserve the gospel without the languages. The languages are the sheath in which this sword of the Spirit [Eph. 6:17] is contained; they are the casket in which this jewel is enshrined; they are the vessel in which this wine is held; they are the larder in which this food is stored. . . . If through our neglect we let the languages go (which God forbid!), we shall . . . lose the gospel." (From http://thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/article/the_profit_of_employing_the_biblical_languages_scriptural_and_historic)

John Piper, Legacy of Sovereign Joy.

Random Resources

I tend to come upon a lot of different free resources or articles/ideas on the internet. I want to pass those on to you men in case you don't follow the same people I do or read the same blogs I do. Here are some resources for you to check into:

Man Up Message- Byron Yawn preaches at a men's breakfast regarding his book, "What Every Man Wishes His Father had Told Him." Good message.
http://www.lakesidebiblechurch.org/media.php?pageID=30

Youth Group Game- The Moooo Game. Kind of like a prank game. Sounds fun.
http://www.jubed.com/youth_ministry/view/The-Moooo-game/?k=moo

Free ebooks/Kindle deals- 

Porn Free Church- http://timchester.wordpress.com/2012/03/26/porn-free-church/

Commentary on Revelation, Robert H. Gundry- http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006LRC7M0/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_iLyEpb0Y0XN2B (note: I know nothing about him. Does anybody?)

Rid of My Disgrace: Hope and Healing for Victims of Sexual Assault- http://www.amazon.com/Rid-My-Disgrace-RE-ebook/dp/B004IEAJM8/

 Jeremy Lin: Faith, Joy, and Basketball [Kindle Edition]- http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007P3QV5I/ref=as_li_ss_til?tag=sixste-20&camp=0&creative=0&linkCode=as4&creativeASIN=B007P3QV5I&adid=1G94AXB5TDQJXDM0R26A 

Enjoy!

Back to the Future

Men I am teaching a 6-message series on End Times prophecy next week during our spring break. Topics include: Rapture, Glorification, Tribulation, Great White Throne Judgment, Millennial Kingdom, and Heaven (Eternal State). One of the keys to teaching is great illustrations so I am throwing this out there to any of you who have taught this before or who have some killer illustrations you can send my way. Thanks ahead of time for your input. You can post to the P to P blog or email me at wcostello23@gmail.com. Thanks guys.

The Writing Shepherd

The items in life that bring me joy, besides my wife and dog :), are reading and writing. My wife picked up a book for me. Once I creased the first page, I could not put it down. Rather than being a book on the nuances of grammar, style, composition, etc., this book is very similar to a spiritual disciplines book. Gearing the mind for a life-style of writing, Douglas Wilson, in Wordsmithy: Hot Tips for the Writing Life, was playing the role of Jiminy Cricket to my already attuned soul.

One thing Seminary provided for me was the constant demand to write. Now that I’m in a different program, the demands of writing have subsided for a short while. However, I was still finding the urge to pick up the pen (or keyboard) and start writing.

Writing aids my thinking in a number of ways and has been a means of grace in my life. This was not always the case, but writing has provided much solace to a vexed soul or great joys over a finished product. I’m never viewed myself as the “go-getter” (except for dating my wife, I wanted to marry her and quickly :). However, Wilson stated a few things in his book that have ignited a flame within me.

1. Do what you would love to be able to do someday.

2. Concert pianists can do what they do because they practiced scales for years. Be at peace with being lousy for a while. Nothing worthwhile ever comes without practice.

Why wait until tomorrow for aspirations, desires, dreams, etc. that you feel, yes subjectively feel, God has given you. You can rationalize all you want about the inability or un-“fitness” of your strengths; what you would like to accomplish tomorrow, start today.

Publishing is not the goal. Writing to aid my thinking is the goal. Clarity in writing demands clarity in thinking, which will aid clear communication. Similar to Pastor-to-Pastor, another group of my friends decided to begin a public-forum designed for theological thinking and writing as the pastor-theologian to help each other think through our current development of theological/biblical thinking. It is an attempt to do Theology in Community. The first post will be up tomorrow morning at 8am if you would like to enjoy the musings of another blog! shepherdthesheep.com