4 Ways to Minister to Senior Saints

A good article from the Gospel Coalition.

The Goal of God's Grace

"For God is not gracious and merciful to sinners to the end that they might not keep his Law, nor that they should remain as they were before they received grace and mercy; but he condones and forgives both sin and death for the sake of Christ, who has fulfilled the whole Law in order thereby to make the heart sweet and through the Holy Spirit to kindle and move the heart to begin to love from day to day more and more."

— Martin Luther
"Complete Sermons of Martin Luther"
3:188

Christianity Explains the Universe

“It is fatal to let people suppose that Christianity is only a mode of feeling; it is vitally necessary to insist that it is first and foremost a rational explanation of the universe.”-- Dorothy Sayers

Beautiful Reverence

"It is not reverent to erect barriers of icy formality [with God] which Jesus died to tear down. Doing so is pious rebellion. There is no more beautiful reverence in the sight of God than the simple heartcry, ‘Abba! Father!’ "

— Ray Ortlund, Jr.
Supernatural Living for Natural People
(Ross-shire, UK: Christian Focus, 2010), 85

"Rejoicing...and Weeping" -- a meditation for Mother's Day

‘Rejoicing with those who rejoice; weeping with those who weep’(Rom. 12:15)…on Mother’s Day too

To those who gave birth this year to their first child—we celebrate with you
To those who lost a child this year – we mourn with you
To those who are in the trenches with little ones every day and wear the badge of food stains – we appreciate you

To those who experienced loss through miscarriage, failed adoptions, or running away—we mourn with you
To those who walk the hard path of infertility, fraught with pokes, prods, tears, and disappointment – we walk with you. Forgive us when we say foolish things. We don’t mean to make this harder than it is.

To those who are foster moms, mentor moms, and spiritual moms – we need you  [Matthew 12:46-50]
To those who have warm and close relationships with your children – we celebrate with you
To those who have disappointment, heart ache, and distance with your children – we sit with you
To those who lost their mothers this year – we grieve with you
To those who experienced abuse at the hands of your own mother – we acknowledge your experience [and we pray for God's mercy and his justice]
To those who lived through driving tests, medical tests, and the overall testing of motherhood – we are better for having you in our midst

To those who are single and long to be married and mothering your own children – we mourn that life has not turned out the way you longed for it to be [and we urge you to trust and God’s good will for you -- 1 Cor. 7:7]

To those who step-parent – we walk with you on these complex paths
To those who envisioned lavishing love on grandchildren -yet that dream is not to be, we grieve with you
To those who will have emptier nests in the upcoming year – we grieve and rejoice with you
To those who placed children up for adoption — we commend you for your selflessness and remember how you hold that child in your heart

And to those who are pregnant with new life, both expected and surprising –we anticipate with you

This Mother’s Day, we walk with you. Mothering is not for the faint of heart and we have real warriors in our midst. We remember you. –

-- from Amy Young’s “An Open Letter to Pastors”  [with my own few additions in brackets]

Love for the Truth

"Truth is so obscure in these times, and falsehood so established, that, unless we love the truth, we cannot know it." -- Blaise Pascal

What to do when you fall...

"Since even the just man, the holiest man, falls as often as seven times a day, indeed, seventy times seven, what are you to do in these slips and falls? If you fall, and you cannot avoid it, do not lie still, do not sleep there where you have fallen. It would be a shame to sleep, therefore rise again. And how are you to rise? By lifting your soul and running to the fountain of grace and mercy, by repairing to Christ Jesus, to obtain mercy for your soul, and to ask Him to send from Himself the needed peace to put your conscience to rest, and to restore your soul to health."


— Robert Bruce
Mystery of the Lord’s Supper
(Scotland, UK: Christian Focus Publications), 160

Whom Do You Fear?

Wise words from George Mueller via Kevin DeYoung:

"For years I carried around in my wallet a little card folded up with a quote from George Müller (1805-1898), the man of faith who prayed in funds for his orphanage in England. The quote I had with me at all times–until he shriveled to pieces–was this:

'There was a day when I died, utterly died — died to George Müller, his opinions, preferences, tastes, and will; died to the world, its approval or censure; died to the approval or blame even of my brethren and friends — and since then I have only to show myself approved to God.'

"I wrote that down, not because I felt I was living like that, but because I knew I needed to. For everyone there is some friend, some sphere of influence, some colleague, some journal, some peer, some big shot in your profession, some one somewhere you so respect, or so fear, that you can bear the thought of disappointing them.

"That fear must die. For if the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, the fear of man is the beginning of misery, compromise, and disappointment.

"You will not last as a Christian–and you will not be truly happy–unless you fight to be dead to the approval of the world and live to show yourself only approved unto God."

"I want to know Christ..."

On my 54th birthday, my essential  aspiration is to know Christ (not merely know about Him) with the kind of reality and intensity reflected in this hymn/poem  (Phil. 3:7-11)….

Hast thou heard Him, seen Him, known Him?
Is not thine a captured heart?
Chief among ten thousand own Him;
Joyful choose the better part.

Idols oft they win thee, charm thee
Lovely things of time and sense;
Gilded thus does sin disarm thee,
Honeyed lest thou turn thee hence.

What has stripped the seeming beauty
From the idols of the earth?
Not a sense of right or duty
But the sight of peerless worth ...

...Not the crushing of those idols
With its bitter void and smart [pain],
But the beaming of His beauty,
The unveiling of His heart.

[For] Who extinguishes their taper [candle]
Till they hail the rising sun?
Who discards the garb of winter
Till the summer hath begun?

‘Tis the look that melted Peter,
‘Tis the face that Stephen saw;
‘Tis the heart that wept with Mary
Can alone from idols draw....

...Draw and win and fill completely,
Till the cup o'erflow the brim;
What have we to do with idols
Who have companied with Him?

Chorus: Captivated by His beauty
Worthy tribute haste to bring;
Let His peerless worth constrain thee,
Crown Him now unrivaled King!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
--Miss Ora Rowan (1834-1879)

"This comes from the Lord..."

From Ray Ortlund, Jr.

For this comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.  Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart.  2 Corinthians 3:18-4:1

Connecting “this comes from the Lord” with “having this ministry” forces a disturbing question.  How many of our churches today can say, “Our ministry comes from the Lord.  Our life-giving impact is of him.  What we are experiencing is coming down from above”?  How many of our churches have a clear awareness that what’s happening in their midst is not due to their cleverness or relevance or traditions or anything of Self?  How many of us can honestly say, “What’s happening among us here is from the Lord.  There is no other way to account for it.  We’re not that smart, not that attractive, not even that virtuous.  We want to do our best for him, of course.  But our church is under the touch of God.  Our ministry is by his mercy”?

Too many of our churches get together every Sunday, week after week, and the people are nice and the music is nice and the preaching is nice, but they never expect the Lord to be obviously involved.  They’re not even thinking in those categories.  Any church in that condition must understand that their ministry is not biblical, however orthodox it may be theologically.  Their ministry is not by the mercy of God; it is of themselves.  It has no authority, no power, no glory.  What swept over the Mediterranean world in the first century was not better branding; what swept over the world was an undeniable newness from above.  It had authority, power, glory.  And that is our only valid ministry today.

We are always in danger of replacing the Lord with something else, something related to the Lord but not itself divine.  Let’s see our danger and be alert to its constant approach.

Maybe what we need now and then is to fail so miserably that we cannot ignore it but must face it.  Maybe we need to fall so flat on our faces that we go back to the mercy of God, we relearn ministry from the New Testament, we go back with humility and honesty and openness to what comes from the Lord.

When our churches are experiencing gospel ministry as coming down from the Lord above by his mercy, then we do not lose heart.  Then we are resilient, because we are experiencing reality with God.  Then we are not tempted to resort to underhanded ways (2 Corinthians 4:2).  We wouldn’t think of stooping to our own fancy footwork, because the Lord of glory is with us.

-- Ray Ortlund, Jr.

"The Gospel is the food of faith...."

"The new life in Christ, just like all natural life, must be nourished and strengthened. This is possible only in communion with Christ in the Holy Spirit and through the word of Scripture. Enlightened by the Spirit, believers gain a new knowledge of faith. The gospel is the food of faith and must be known to be nourishment. Salvation that is not known and enjoyed is no salvation. God saves by causing himself to be known and enjoyed in Christ.""


— Herman Bavinck
"Reformed Dogmatics, Volume 4: Holy Spirit, Church, and New Creation"
(Grand Rapids, Mi.: Baker Academic, 2008), 96

"God Is the Gospel..."

"When I say that God is the Gospel I mean that the highest, best, final, decisive good of the gospel, without which no other gifts would be good, is the glory of God in the face of Christ revealed for our everlasting enjoyment. 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.

"Since we are sinners and have no right and no desire to be enthralled with God, therefore God’s love enacted a plan of redemption to provide that right and that desire. The supreme demonstration of God’s love was the sending of his Son to die for our sins and to rise again so that sinners might have the right to approach God and might have the pleasure of his presence forever."


— John Piper
God is the Gospel
(Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2005), 13-14

On Being Robustly Trinitarian

Justin Taylor links to a helpful (brief) video talk by Mike Reeves.

"Better to go limping into heaven than leaping into hell."

Matthew 5:27-30:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell."

"The central meaning of Jesus’ advice is to take decisive, drastic action against that habit, thing, or person, that though pleasurable and perhaps seemingly necessary, is in fact ruining life . . . Better to go limping into heaven than leaping into hell." -- Frederick Dale Bruner

HT:  Chris Brauns

How can you find a happy life where there is no life?

"The good you love is from him, but only insofar as it is used for him is it good and sweet. But with justice will it become bitter, if you, as a deserter from him, unrighteously love what comes from him [because you love it more than you love Him]. Whither do you walk, farther and farther along these hard and toilsome roads? There is no rest to be found where you seek it: seek what you seek, but it lies not where you seek it. You seek a happy life in the land of death, but it is not there. How can you find a happy life where there is no life?" -- Augustine, "Confessions"