Top 12 Posts of 2012

Many people are writing Top 12 posts of 2012. I’ll be a lemming and join the crowd. Here are what I consider the top 12 posts of 2012 at Borrowed Light.

12. What if Toto IS in Kansas?/Church Planters Need Curmudgeons

Perhaps I didn’t make the point well. Maybe it just disappeared because they posted on a day when there were a bunch of other great articles. Either way I might revisit the points from these articles in the future. I’m concerned with a couple of things as it concerns the direction of church planting. It might be possible that these articles didn’t get much attention because I’m a crazy loon.

11. Forget This Post

Kind of ironic that this made the list. In some ways this might need be the first one on the list. I have been reminded over the past year (and with a heavenly megaphone recently) that I need to be made willing to be forgotten.

10. In Defiance of Them All

I really enjoyed writing this article. It is a reflection on my son’s castle rebuilding efforts.

9. How You Ended Up Gutted Like a Deer in a Tree

Pornography claims many of young men. The Proverbs serve as helpful warnings to the deadly result of lust and porn. This article is a helpful reminder of the end result of lust.

8. 10 Tips for Destroying Your Children’s Souls

This one was more for me than anyone else. Just as I need to be intentional about serving my wife (see #5) I also must be intentional about discipling my children. I hope this post helps other dads too.

7. God’s Happy Little Trees

Nobody else seemed to really like this article. (I’m judging that from the lack of comments, shares, visits, etc.) I thought it was a good picture of God’s redemptive plan. And I like Bob Ross.

6. The Effect of the Prosperity “Gospel” On Pain/How a Subtle Dualism Robs the Church of Missionaries

Both of these will appear in a little different form in my forthcoming book, Torn to Heal. Dualism and Stoicism are deadly enemies to suffering well. So is the prosperity gospel. That’s why I think these articles are helpful reads.

5. Husbands and “Honey-Do’s”

I’m not sure that the article is really the fifth best, but the effects of it are. God really convicted me about being a more intentional servant to my wife. I believe it has made me a better husband (and a handy-man at that).

4. How John Piper Helped Me in Darkness

Anytime I can help someone that struggles with depression I’m excited. I believe this post was helpful to many people that battle darkness.

3. 12 Things I Doubt Pastors Will Hear in Heaven

This post took about 10 minutes to write. I had just read a debate about something really insignificant and I set to writing twelve things that I doubt will be significant in eternity. More people read this article in 2012 than any others.

2. The Root of Angry and Divisive Calvinists Summary

This series was picked up at SBC Voices as well. The conversation was crazy. I had originally written this piece to be included in a piece on John Newton. But it evolved into something different. I think it’s an important series for young calvinists to consider . But it rightly faded into the background when Greg Dutcher’s excellent book Killing Calvinism came out in April.

1. The Pain of Being Blackballed by @Challies & @TGC

This was a tremendously fun piece to write. For two days I pretended as if I was very wounded by Challies and The Gospel Coalition because they had never linked to me. I had uncovered a vast conspiracy where these “superstars” of blogging and gotten together to blackball me. It was really fun. Especially on Twitter. Ironically enough, this post is one of my favorites because it initiated an online friendship with Tim Challies. Since then the blackball has been removed and Challies has linked to me several times. But I’m starting to think I might have been on to something as it concerns The Gospel Coalition…

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Honorable Mentions: You Know What Happens When You Assume: on the dangers of assuming the gospel.
Why Your Prayers May Be Hindered: A reminder to husbands and wives about how much he values marital unity.
Faithful Disciples Aren’t Just Wet Disciples: A disciple is marked by passionate worship AND faithful ministry
The Googlization of Bible Study: Google has harmed my Bible study. I might do a Google fast for a few days in 2013. We’ll see…

Help Borrowed Light Make the Final Four and Keep the Terrorists from Winning

Thanks to your help Borrowed Light made it into the Sweet 16 in the SBCVoices Blue Collar Blog Madness.  What is at stake is a coveted spot on the Voices Watchlist.  Trust me you want Borrowed Light to be on that Watchlist and not those jokers that I’m going up against.  I already outed them as kitty haters.  You don’t want these type of writers to be featured on Voices. 

So here are the steps to follow. 

Step One: Go to SBC Voices Blue Collar Blog Madness Sweet 16.

Step Two: Scroll down to the Midwest division and vote for Borrowed Light.

Step Three: Share this page and/or the SBC Voices Sweet 16 page on Facebook and encourage your friends to vote for Borrowed Light. 

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To further motivate you I have found a little bit of dirt on my opponents in the Midwest Division:

The Truth about Joe Blackmon: This has been confirmed by both Jared Moore (of Harry Potter Bible Study fame) and snopes.com  Joe Blackmon is the inspiration for the Lord Voldemort character from Harry Potter.  I don’t watch Harry Potter but I hear he’s a bad dude.  Do you really want someone whose name ought not even be spoken to be on the SBC Voices Watchlist? 

The Truth about Frank Gantz: After slowly rewinding the Zapruder film I discovered what appeared to be a small child near the grassy knoll during the famous Kennedy assassination.  Through high-tech research and computer technology that you wouldn’t understand I was able to enlarge the photo and age it to see what this little tot would look like in our day and age.  To my shock it was a picture of Frank Gantz.  Yes a young Frank Gantz was the shooter on the grassy knoll.  You don’t want to vote for this guy.

The Truth about Andrew Wencl: After a rather lengthy and expensive research project on Ancestry.com I have been able to determine that Andrew Wencl is the nephew of Frank Stallone.  I’m not sure what this means but I doubt you want to vote for the guy.  I was hoping for something a little more sinister, but perhaps Andrew is so sneaky and devious that he bought off the folks at Ancestry.com.  Regardless, unless you want to see tons of posts giving homage to Frank Stallone I wouldn’t bother voting for this Andrew fella. 

New Look at Borrowed Light

I switched the template and a few other little things at Borrowed Light.  What do you think?  I am open to any suggestions on how to improve this website.  Do you like the new look?  Are there any features or gadgets that you would like?  Is this theme too boring? 

Borrowed Light Fantasy Baseball

Did your NCAA Tournament bracket get missed up over the weekend?  Has your dreams of being a fantasy champion been dashed?  Cry no more!  On March 25th the Borrowed Light Fantasy Baseball League will be drafting.  A 20 team league with an interesting scoring format.  The winner will receive a $25 Amazon Gift Certificate.  There are limited spots available so respond quickly. 

How to join:

1. Email me your email address mike[AT]fbjasper[DOT]org and I will send you an invite. 

2.  Leave a comment (either here or on facebook) with your email address and I will send you the invite. 

3. Respond to @mikeleake with your email address and I will send you an invite. 

How to Save Cute Little Kittens: SBC Voices Blue Collar Blog Madness

Last year you helped Borrowed Light make the Sweet 16.  And that was against powerhouse SBC blogs.  This year those powerhouse blogs are gone and the folks at SBC Voices are seeing which of the “little guys” should be moved up to the hallowed status of (queue James Earl Jones) FEATURED BLOG!!!! 

Here is how you can help Borrowed Light become a FEAUTRED BLOG on the SBC Voices watch list. 

Step One: Go to SBC Voices Blue Collar Blog Madness. 

Step Two: Scroll down to the Midwest region and vote for Borrowed Light. 

Step Three: Don’t bother voting for any of those other jokers.  I can assure you that everyone else in my division puts little baby kitties in wood-chippers*.  Not me.  I’ll never do that.  So only vote for the guy that would never do that.

Step Four: Let other people know about the Blue Collar Blog Madness.  Tell them to vote for Borrowed Light and save baby kitties**. 

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*This claim cannot be proven, but this is the SBC so it’s totally fine to assume that such crazy claims are true—that’s what we do. 

**If you abhor baby kitties and would actually cheer for people that put them in wood-chippers…first of all, shame on you…second of all, pretend it’s not baby kitties, pretend that they are Yankees fans, or Cowboys fans, or Hitler fans.

New Comment System at Borrowed Light and a very important mustache question

With much thanks to my friend Chris, Borrowed Light will now be using Disqus for commenting.  I hope that you enjoy it.  If everything works smoothly this commenting system should integrate Facebook and Twitter comments with blog comments. 

Give it a try.  (You may have to clink on the post title for comments on the first entry).

Who would win in a mustache growing contest Chef Boyardee or Cap’n Crunch?

To get the full effects of this new comment system stick around to argue your answer.  And if this goes really well who knows maybe we’ll make the “who would win…” a weekly feature. 

New Feature at Borrowed Light

You may have noticed that little flag on the right hand column of your screen that says “Rewards”.  That is part of PunchTab. 

PunchTab tracks the viewers (not in a government getting in your business type of way) to our website and rewards certain social behaviors.  What that means is that every time you view Borrowed Light you receive 100 points.  Every time you “Like” a page or “Tweet” a page then you will also receive 100 points. 

All of this will add up to where you can exchange these points for a $15 Amazon Gift Card, a $5 ITunes card, or a Free Coffee from Starbucks.  All you have to do is sign in with your Facebook account (you can do that by clicking on the REWARDS button).  After you have signed in then all you have to do is visit, comment, and like certain pages.  That’s it, and you are well on your way to winning some cool prizes. 

Thought you might enjoy that…

Reintroducing Borrowed Light Book Club

In April I had hopes of beginning something of a book club.  That sounds a little lame and a little too much like Oprah for my taste.  Through your voting we decided on going through John Piper’s God is the Gospel. 

I posted a couple of times hoping to generate some discussion. 

We took off like a herd of turtles.

And with the business of school and other more important commitments bearing down on me I decided to cut the program and hope for a restart.  But I honestly do not want to restart this unless people will find it helpful and will be interactive. 

So I offer a short poll and a question for you to discuss in the comments.

BLBC: God is the Gospel Chapter One

“If I had a million dollars I would give 999,999 to the church and 1 to education.”  -Billy Sunday

After reading this chapter I hope that you see Billy Sunday’s famous quote is unhelpful.  Many have followed in Sunday’s trail by dismissing the importance of theology and doctrine for the sake of proclaiming the gospel.  Piper clearly shows that is false dichotomy.  It is both proclamation AND doctrine. 

While showing the importance of doctrine Piper also puts it in its proper place, when he says, “explanation is necessary, but it is not primary.” (22)  It is possible to fall off on either side of the horse; you can exalt doctrine in such a way that it fails to serve its purpose.  But you can also ignore doctrine in such a way that the proclamation becomes essentially meaningless. 

It saddens me that many see doctrine as almost unnecessary.  It also saddens me that doctrine, and our discussion of it, is often more contentious than it is worshipful.  I think Piper’s view of doctrine here is really valuable and would serve us well to attempt keeping this balance:

Gospel doctrine matters because the good news is so full and rich and wonderful that it must be opened like a treasure chest, and all its treasures brought out for the enjoyment of the world. Doctrine is the description of these treasures. Doctrine describes their true value and why they are so valuable. Doctrine guards the diamonds of the gospel from being discarded as mere crystals. Doctrine protects the treasures of the gospel from the pirates who don’t like the diamonds but who make their living trading them for other stones. Doctrine polishes the old gems buried at the bottom of the chest. It
puts the jewels of gospel truth in order on the scarlet tapestry of history so each is seen in its most beautiful place.

Piper goes on to say that with doctrine does this “with its head bowed in wonder that it should be allowed to touch the things of God.  Here is a call to humility as well as love.  As Piper will again say, “love is the point”. 

NOTE:

It is my hope that your comments will dictate the direction of our discussions.  I was very disappointed with the level (or lack of) discussion last week.  I will assume that it was my fault for not writing a compelling enough introduction.  I want to refrain from simply asking questions and me being the one dictating the direction of the discussion.  So this week I’ll keep it open and simply say, “your turn”.  But if there is little discussion this week I’ll assume I need to provide more direction for our little band of book readers.

It’s not too late to join our study.  The introduction and first chapter are very short so you can catch up really quickly.  You don’t even have to buy the book; it’s free online:

http://cdn.desiringgod.org/pdf/books_bgg/books_bgg.pdf

What are your thoughts about this chapter…

BLBC: God is the Gospel Introduction

Sorry for the tardiness of this post, I know that I had originally said we would start on Monday.  A 15 page paper kept me from fulfilling that task.  But we will begin today by looking at the introduction to Piper’s book. 

In case you are just beginning remember that you can read this book online for free:

http://cdn.desiringgod.org/pdf/books_bgg/books_bgg.pdf

Summary:

The central statement to this entire book, and this introduction, is that the greatest gift of the gospel is God Himself.  The fundamental question that Piper wants us to ask ourselves as we go through this book is, “Do you love God or do you love His gifts?”  Perhaps the most penetrating question in the entire book is this one:

The critical question for our generation—and for every generation—
is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the
friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and
all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no
human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with
heaven, if Christ were not there?  (Piper, 15)

If you are unfamiliar with Piper you need to know that central to his ministry is that “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him”.  That has been the driving statement of Piper’s ministry.  This foundational commitment is what drives statements like this one: “The saving love of God is God’s commitment to do everything necessary to enthrall us with what is most deeply and durably satisfying, namely himself” (13). 

Piper closes his introduction by giving a word to pastors and church leaders.  Honestly, I think this probing question is fitting for everyone in the way that we present the gospel.  It is a fitting question, “Can we really say that our people are being prepared for heaven where Christ himself, not his gifts, will be the supreme pleasure?” 

There is a ton to chew on in this introduction.  So I’ll let you bring out the things that you found beneficial, had questions about, or wanted to discuss further. 

A Word on Reading Piper

Some people find reading John Piper pretty difficult.  I think it has to do somewhat with his writing style.  He reminds me of C.S. Lewis and the Apostle Paul in that he puts a ton of stuff in one sentence.  Therefore, it is best to try to read Piper slowly.  He has a tendency to say something and then say the same thing again in another way.  Be aware of this. 

I encourage you to read through this slowly and thoughtfully.  But remember there is a reason that we are reading this in community.  If something simply does not make sense feel free to leave a comment and ask, “what in the world is Piper saying here?”  Also, feel free to disagree and ask questions of Piper.  You may not agree with everything he says.  He may at times sound an alarm and go just a little too far.  But then again he may also be correct. 

Let’s freely interact and respect one another as we go through this book!

It’s your turn…

Sweet Sixteen!

Thanks to your voting Borrowed Light made it into the Sweet 16 of the SBC Blog Madness.  I am, to be honest, shocked and absolutely honored to be voted into the sweet 16.  I appreciate every vote that you cast and now gently exhort you to VOTE AGAIN!!!!!!!!

I’m going against Founders Ministries, Ed Stetzer, and B21.  The fact that I’m even considered in the same category as these giants is humbling to say the least. 

My goal for this round…don’t be dead last.  You can help me achieve that inspiring goal by going to SBC Voices (Round 2) and casting your vote for Borrowed Light in the Southeast Division.

Borrowing Light From Who?

This blog is called Borrowed Light due mainly to Robert Murray McCheyne’s response to reading Jonathan Edwards:

"How feeble my spark of Christianity appears beside such a sun! But even his was a borrowed light, and the same source is still open to enlighten me."

The truth behind this quote struck me at the Pastor’s Conference.  I look up to many of the men that spoke at this year’s Pastor’s Conference.  I love the gospel centrality that consumes Matt Chandler.  I love the joyous humility and love for Jesus that CJ Mahaney has.  I love Dr. Moore’s wisdom and heart for gospel-driven adoption.  I love Dr. Mohler’s wisdom and leadership.  This is not to mention all of the amazing things about Danny Akin, Francis Chan, David Platt, Mark Dever, etc. 

But I realized something as I sat listening to and admiring these men: what I love about them is Jesus in them.  It would be ignorant and desperately falling short to admire and follow men in such a way that does not lead me to a deeper worship of Jesus.  At the end of the day the only borrowed light that matters or lasts is that which comes from Jesus.  May I love, admire, and respect my leaders, but do so in such a way that bends my heart to Jesus.

Flavel Plugs Our Website

In John Flavel's Method of Grace he says this, "How humble and lowly in spirit should you be under your great advancement. It is true, God that magnified you greatly by this union; but yet do not boast. You bear not the root, but the root you. You shine, but with a borrowed light".

Flavel points to the foundation of this website. One, that because of our union with Christ we have all the light, that such men as Edwards, Spurgeon, McCheyne, Paul, Peter, etc. have. Their light is also borrowed. Two, it serves to humble us. Any light which we might bring forth does not come from us. We are never the source of light. Therefore, we must always make certain that Jesus Christ is the only boast. Thus leading to my mandate:

"So live and so study and so serve and so preach and so write that Jesus Christ, the crucified and risen God, be the only boast of this generation". Quoted from Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper.

Name Change

Perhaps you have noticed the new title to this blog. If you were expecting to end up at FBC New London do not freak out--it's still us! However, because our hope is to extend far beyond our local community we have decided to make a change to the blog title. Borrowed Light will be our new blog title. Where does this come from?

If you have ever read the biography of Jonathan Edwards (or other great men of God like Whitefield, Spurgeon, McCheyne, etc.) then hopefully you have experienced the humbling and silencing benefit of comparing your own walk with these "giants". In fact one man that I consider a "giant" in the faith is Robert Murray McCheyne. Apparently, he felt the same humbling experience when reading Edwards. On March 20, 1832 after reading part of the Life of Jonathan Edwards, McCheyne then comments, "How feeble my spark of Christianity appear beside such a sun! But even his was a borrowed light, and the same source is still open to enlighten me."

Therefore, I have chosen this title because of my tendency to revere such great men and women in history. It is a constant reminder to us all that their light is only borrowed and that the true source of light is Jesus Christ. It is also an encouragement; whenever I read of the vibrant relationship such men had with our God I can remember that the same Jesus is readily available to me! It is my prayer that the purpose of this blog (moreover my life) might always be to draw near unto God and enjoy this Great Light!