Monday Medley: Reparations Addressed, Advice to Christian Singles, & the Deity of Jesus

It has been some time since I shared something with you. 
Sometimes it's like there are a lot of little fires of stressful situations, and this blog takes a back seat.
Right now my brain is in a fog, but I can at least share a few of the things that I have listened to and learned from recently. 

Addressing Reparations
Some people are calling for reparations based on slavery in America in the past.
The following is a fairly long but worthwhile podcast addressing the issue:
Slavery Reparations • Just Thinking Podcast

Singles, Listen Up!
This week I was listening to a chapel from The Master's University which encouraged young single women to pursue Biblical qualities that will help them fulfill their role in a marriage (should they be so blessed). 
I never chose or desired to stay single myself, but that doesn't mean that I didn't get anything out of this!   God's plans don't always include the things we expect.
The only point I would add is that I also heard this week that we aren't to make disciples of ourselves but of Christ.
Chris Mueller's Biblically - based advice to young women & men.

The Deity of Jesus
Last week I heard Nathan Busenitz pointing out how the New Testament quoted from the Old Testament and applied things that talked about YHWH (the LORD) to Jesus.
It is amazing how God works it out that some things I hear during the week can be useful in online conversations.  This fact was one of them.
This came from another chapel of TMU.
Nathan Busenitz explains how Scripture points to the Deity of Christ.

Shepherds' Conference 2019 Highlights

The Shepherds' Conference is over for this year, and I enjoyed learning of some of my friends meeting each other as well as my being able to stream sessions.
I will try to remember to announce for you when they have all of them available online.
They should be available by clicking HERE sometime in the future.
I knew the church had been taking down messages from Facebook on Sundays to put up later elsewhere, so I knew that the conference messages might not stay up on FB.
UPDATE:  You can find the the messages from the conference HERE.

Here are some of the things I shared on social media during the conference week - plus a comment about the Q & A:

"Humility is the virtue that produces faithfulness." - John MacArthur

Free yourself from distractions.  Pursue corporate learning.  Ask good questions.  

This was from hearing Paul Twiss.

Lack of holiness is the chief disqualification in pastoral ministry.  

This was from hearing S. Ferguson.

The true heart of a pastor is a heart that loves people, that cares for people, that longs to see people conformed to the image of Christ.

This was from hearing Austin Duncan.

We're all disciples. The question is of whom?

This from hearing Mark Dever.

Vindication is coming. Suffering is not over.  Persecution is not over, because not all have heard.  Share in suffering for the Gospel by the power of God.  

This was from hearing Voddie Baucham.

Then there was the Q & A.  Phil asked an opening question and then asked about the social justice issue.

I believe it was the right thing to do, but things got very intense.  

It seems that some have not been happy with John for saying that he would fight error but not his friends, but he did make a statement on the subject that I think they must not have seen as being as strong as I felt it was.   

I wish that I had been been able to get more of what he said typed out. 

The responses were not exactly as some of us would have hoped for, and John finally stepped in and gave Sinclair a chance to describe the state of things in the U.K. 

I do believe that patience and prayer (and hopefully continued communication) is what people should be doing right now with the people that we might be concerned about on the "social justice" drift.  

I do support the Statement on Social Justice which has some newer articles explaining it online right now.

Sadly, some people are quick to give up on people who may not stand up as strongly as we would desire.  This ought not be so.   

Not all Biblical correction is to be done with stinging rebukes and immediate shunning - treating people as unbelievers (though some of us may want to show great caution).

Back to sharing highlights from the conference:

“The husband is the head of the wife. He is the leader of the home and bears complete responsibility for the home before God.”
Marriage does not exist for self-fulfillment.
The command for men to love their wives isn't conditioned on whether they are obedient to Christ or not.

This was from hearing Tom Pennington.

It's not great talents God uses, so much as a great likeness to Christ. - S. Ferguson

Very often how you worship determines who you worship. - L. Duncan

Listen well to the critic. Give your critic the benefit of the doubt...unless you have solid grounds to know otherwise.
When someone criticizes you falsely, thank God that they don't know the truth about you...how bad you really are.
"It's difficult to stay bitter with a a critic that you are genuinely praying for."  - J.Beeke

This was from hearing Joel Beeke.

The associate pastor & senior pastor are equal in their value but different in their role.
"Hold up the hands of your senior pastor!"  -MM

Michael Mahoney about associate pastors.

You cannot avoid conflict and be faithful in ministry.
The default response to our opponents should be gentleness.
Work hard to guard your own teaching from error.... Instruction is a better way to deal with error rather than taunting or insults.
This was from hearing Phil Johnson.

"The safest place in the world is in the will of God, but the 'safe' place may not be God's will."
This was from hearing H.B. Charles.

Making disciples begins with conversion... with faithful evangelism.
The death of Christ was effectual. Jesus died for all that the Father gave to Him...for the sheep... He did it for me.
The Christ who justified His bride will not fail to sanctify His bride.

This was from hearing Mike Riccardi.  If you haven't heard him before, this one was a good demonstration of how Theology and evangelism go together.

Saturate yourself in the Scripture.  Bathe in the Bible.  

The commandments, teaching, understanding will protect you.  

Moral compromise begins when you neglect the Word of God...when you fail to memorize it.

This is a sample from hearing Harry Walls warning that anybody can fall.

There's no way you can survive a half of a century of ministry if you can't forgive.

You confront them with truth, but you have to love people.... I'm more concerned about me than I am about somebody else's issue with me.
"We have a culture. It's called the Kingdom of God." - John MacArthur

This was from hearing John MacArthur answering questions from Phil Johnson.

"Every passage of Scripture has Theology in it."
If all you do is instruct the mind, you're not a preacher. You're a lecturer.
It doesn't take much of a man to be a preacher. It just takes all that he is.
Who you are is more important than where you serve.

This was from hearing Steve Lawson.

Only those who meet all of the qualifications will run & win. 

Those who hold tightly to their liberties will not win.... 

Selfish, indulgent freedom lovers won't win.  Neither will grace abusers...
Idolatry, immorality, presumption, and complaining...these are the kinds of sins that will leave you a corpse in the wilderness...disqualified.

Don't ever overestimate your spiritual strength.

You can be faithful, because God is faithful.

You will never be disqualified and be able to blame Him.

This was from hearing John MacArthur.  It was a good word of warning to the pastors and other church leaders at the conference.

Shepherds' Conference 2019

It's that time of year again...
I enjoy streaming the Shepherds' Conference each year, and it's especially fun to know that there are people there that I have known in the past or am currently acquainted with from a distance online.

Pastors (and some other men) from around the world gather to be taught, edified, and equipped each year at Grace Community Church in southern California.
They receive books and have fellowship and volunteers serve them.

This year, I'm hoping to find out when some of my friends bump into each other at the conference again, and I'm hoping to share a link for each time - depending on whether it's a first or second time during the conference.  It adds some extra fun along with viewing photos and videos and comments that people share.

The dates of the conference are March 5-8 and the Schedule is HERE.
The General Sessions should be streamed if all goes as usual.  Just click the proper day of the week and translate the time to your time zone from the times listed (Pacific) HERE.

You can look for hashtags like #ShepCon #ShepCon2019 & #ShepCon19 on social media.
See you online, and for those there... I hope you have a fabulous time!