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The Role of Preaching in Revival
Preaching and Revival Over the last few weeks, we have been looking at the awesome topic of revival, and we’ve used the revival that took place in Beaufort in the 1800’s as our case study. I hope that this study has built within you a hunger for God to once again bring revival to our community. What we have seen thus far in our study is that revival is a powerful outpouring of God’s Spirit in which the lukewarm are awakened, unbelievers are converted, and a whole community seems to be saturated with the awareness of the glory of God. Surely, such a work is too great for the most…
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May 2024 Recommended Reads
Dear Saints, Each month, I make recommendations of books that I think will be a blessing to your walk with the Lord. While I do realize that reading books has fallen on hard times today (statistics say that almost half of college graduates never read a whole book after college), I do believe that Christians should have a particular interest in reading good books. Reading good books is like fellowshipping with dear saints of past and present. Through their words, we can gain new perspectives and deepen our understanding of God’s truth and how to apply it to our lives. With that said, here are some recommendations in various categories.…
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Remembering the Beaufort Revival (Pt I)
Beaufort’s Rich Spiritual History Living in Beaufort for the first 18 years of my life made it very easy to take for granted the beauty of this majestic town. I am probably not alone in that; I am sure that many of us forget that not every town has exquisite views, Spanish moss-covered oak trees, history that dates back centuries, all of which are only matched by the wonderful people who live here. As I’ve gotten older and returned to Beaufort, I’ve grown to appreciate this beautiful place more and more. “Beautiful Beaufort-by-the-sea,” as my grandmother used to call it, is undoubtedly the most wonderful town in America, and there’s…
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Gospel Grace and Sabbath Rest
This month in our pastoral letters, we’re thinking about the rhythms of rest and work that God has built into His created order. This week, I want to discuss one of our Lord’s sweetest gifts to His people: the rhythm of six days of work and one day of rest. The day of rest is known in Hebrew as the Shabbat, meaning “ceasing or stopping,” from which we get our word “Sabbath.” Because of the Judeo-Christian influence on our world, it can be easy for us to take this pattern of rest and work for granted. For a moment, rather than looking at this through the lens of 21st century…
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We Do Not Drift Into Holiness
Several years ago, I was out in the boat and dropped anchor to fish. We fished happily, not knowing that our anchor had not caught but instead was dragging along the mud beneath us. Next thing I knew, we had drifted into an oyster rake. Drifting is dangerous, and yet so often we can drift in our walk with the Lord without noticing it. Slowly, we spend less time in prayer or in the Word. What we once despised, we now indulge. Spiritual drift happens similarly to the way Ernest Hemingway described the way going bankrupt happens: it happens very slowly, and then all at once. DA Carson is helpful…
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Longing for the Future Sabbath
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March 2024 Recommended Reads
Each month I send a list of books that I hope will be of encouragement to you. Because I know we have people with various interests, I send many different categories of books. Don’t be overwhelmed by the list- I’m giving you a broad selection in hopes that you’ll pick one or two books to read this month. My Main Read for March: While most of these books fit fairly neatly into categories, Michael Reeves’ Rejoicing in Christ is a book that spans so many categories: theology, devotional, church history, and Christian Living. Reeves is a model of the kind of pastor-theologian I would like to be, and I am…
