The promise fulfilled

Posted on August 14, 2020 by Seth

Reading through the Bible we cannot help but see promises made, fulfilled, and yet to be fulfilled. The promises fulfilled in Christ give us hope that the promises of Christ will be fulfilled as well.

“Your heart must not be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if not, I would have told you. I am going away to prepare a place for you. If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come back and receive you to Myself, so that where I am you may be also. You know the way to where I am going.”

John 14:1–4 (HCSB)

Time outside in Minnesota

Posted on August 11, 2020 by Seth

Here are just a few photos of time outside in Minnesota. The frogs, snakes, beetles, and caterpillars all breathed a sigh of relief when the kids left.

Rereading a helpful book

Posted on August 10, 2020 by Seth

I first read the Trellis and the Vine back in 2011. It was so helpful I have continued to reread it over the years. Here were my initial thoughts of the book, and a new application for myself this last time.

The Trellis And The Vine: the Ministry mind-shift that Changes Everything

by Colin Marshall and Tony Payne

Point: No easy fix, silver bullet, or new program will fix a ministry. Ministry is accomplished and built not on programs but through people. Every believer is to be part of this spreading of the Gospel through disciple making.

Path: The authors explain their ministry mindset through 12 convicting chapters highlighting current ministry models, the necessity of all believers to be disciple makers, and the meaning and means of training.

Sources: The Trellis and the Vine combines Biblical principles with personal experience and practical insight in order to present a biblical view of ministry.

Agreement: This book is biblically based, helpfully arranged, and easy to read. This is not meant to be a treatise on ministry in the local church, but a helpful guide to biblically evaluating and enhancing one’s ministry. The Scriptures are the foundation, the Gospel is the reason, the Spirit is the means, and prayerful dependence is expected.

There are several helpful charts found on pages 56, 85, 87, 101, 117-18, 121.

Disagreement: (not really) Marshall and Payne deliberately make this book accessible to all denominations, sidestepping polity and church distinctions. They openly admit this. This can be understood because if one is faithful to the Scriptures, this is the ministry model with which every believer must be in agreement.

A second question would be whether their formula for discipleship becomes another program. But again, anything can become just a program.

Personal App: Training individuals is not easy nor quick, but essential. Is my ministry based on programs (trellis) or on disciple making (vine)? Am I seeking to grow the trellis or the vine? Am I excited or discouraged to see disciples move on to faithfully minister in new areas?

Favorite Quote: “…wish them the best of British luck” (196). Couldn’t help but laugh after some of their Australian vocabulary repeated surfaced.

Stars: 5 out of 5

Buy 3 copies of the book along with “One to One Bible Reading”. Read them. Giving them out. Read them with others. Repeat as necessary.

After my most recent reading (2020):

Intentionally calling out disciples

Jesus could see something in his chosen disciples that they could not see themselves. He knew the next step each of them needed to take, and he called them to it. If he wouldn’t have called him, they would not have followed him as they did.

In this re-reading of the Trellis and the Vine I was struck more by that idea. I need to be intentionally looking for the next steps of discipleship of those around me, and listening to the next steps for my life that others see. That is a great responsibility, but also a privilege as follow the Spirit’s leading.

The Psalms

Posted on August 8, 2020 by Seth Grotzke

This is a helpful look at the role the Psalms ought to play in both our individual and corporate worship.

Neste, Ray Van, and C. Richard Wells, eds. Forgotten Songs: Reclaiming the Psalms for Christian Worship. Nashville, Tennessee: B&H Academic, 2012.

Page: 9

The analogy between manners at the breakfast table and the life of faith is fairly straightforward. Left on our own, there are all sorts of things we would never choose to say to God. “Thank you” and “I’m sorry” are near the top of the list. Thus, the reason worship leaders should challenge us to say and sing words we are still “growing into” and may not “feel” presently is that this is a potent means of spiritual growth.

Page: 13

In the American church Christians have traditionally categorized worship services as either “traditional” or “contemporary.” But the longer I work in the field of worship, the more I am convinced that a much more telling and instructive dichotomy is between worship that is merely expressive and that which is both expressive and formative.

Page: 27

One of the main functions of Scripture is to instill in the people of God a proper grasp of the world’s true story.

Page: 28

The psalms employ rhetoric to achieve their end of shaping the worshippers’ inner life. Rhetoric is the way someone presents his ideas, in a way that moves people to feel the way he wants them to. In the hands of the unscrupulous, rhetoric can be a tool for manipulating; but in the service of virtue, it can move its audience to do what they know to be right.

Page: 78

Seek Christ in the psalms and then measure everything else by what you find there. When selecting and writings songs, we should ask, Is it psalm-like? An honest answer will enable you to rise above the inappropriate and tread on the high places of the earth.

Page: 137

The psalms are lyric poems that obey the ordinary rules of lyric poetry about which we learn in high school and college English courses, and whatever other use we make of such poems, we should at least read and ponder them in our private, devotional worship.

Page: 146

God’s psalms have a robust, rough-hewn character that can give backbone to a person’s faith, as well as muscle tone and stamina.

Page: 146

The biblical psalms are not “nice.”

Page: 150

Singing imprecatory lament psalms is dangerous activity because it is not innocent “special music” or a concertized solo testimonial. Psalm-singing is quoting God back in God’s face, invoking God’s presence to do justice on our troubled earth. No self-righteous, naïve persons should apply. But when a communion of repentant sinful saints covered by the blood of Jesus Christ chooses to do it because they are deeply disturbed by Incorporated Evil and the principalities in the world laying God’s creatures to waste, then we can come to know a little of the depth and riches the Lord has provided for us in God’s Word.

Page: 212

In the psalms it’s as if we pass on the glory of God from one generation to the other. As one of the psalms itself declares: One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness. They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of your righteousness. . . . My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord, and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever. (Ps 145:4–7,21)

Our picnic spot

Posted on August 4, 2020 by Seth

Every year we try to make it for my birthday to our favorite picnic spot. This year we were in the States in April, but made up for it with a July picnic.