A New Front Door

Homepage

If you click on over to the blog’s homepage, you’ll see a new look that’s intended to make navigation and finding resources a bit easier for you.

The nature of blogs is that once something slips of the bottom of the page in a few days, it’s gone for good; it’s gone to the great pixel cemetery in the ether.

I hope the new homepage design will help to resurrect and keep alive some of the most useful and popular articles and resources. I think it’s fairly self-explanatory, but just in case, here’s a brief description of each button.

HHH blog
HeadHeartHand Blog: Hosts my blogs articles Monday to Friday.

HappyChristian
The Happy Christian: Website for my forthcoming book, The Happy Christian, which hosts daily blog articles to help Christians maintain their joy in a gloomy world.

HappyApp
Happy Christian App: More details on this tomorrow, but you can get a free App at both Apple and Google which will deliver all the daily content from HeadHeartHand blog and The Happy Christian blog straight to your phones.

Depression
Christians Get Depressed Too: Films that accompany my book, Christians Get Depressed Too.

JOEP
Jesus On Every Page: Official website for the book, Jesus on Every Page.

Top10
Top 10 Books: My top ten books in various categories (e.g. preaching, leadership, marriage, elders, etc.)

Kindle
Kindle eBook Deals: Some of the best current deals on Kindle books.

Resources
Top Online Resources: Links to the best resources on the web in various categories.

eBooks
eBooks: This page is still under development but within the next few months I’ll be posting links to various eBooks that I’ve written.

Full credit goes to Cameron Morgan the designer, and Ray Wong the developer. These are fantastic guys to work with and I recommend them 100%.

You can contact Cameron via Linked In or Twitter.

You can contact Ray via Linked In or Twitter.


Our Sadness Puts God In The Dock

“To the world, the dejected Christian seems to accuse God and His service, as if he openly called Him a rigorous, hard, unacceptable Master, and His work a sad unpleasant thing…You are born and new born for God’s honor; and will you thus dishonor Him before the world?” Richard Baxter.

Just as the joyful Christian makes others think well of God, the dejected Christian risks tarnishing God’s public reputation.

Now Baxter is not saying that Christians should be “Happy, happy happy, all the time, time, time.” There are unquestionably seasons where sorrow is not only appropriate but necessary – bereavement, illness, clinical depression, etc. But Baxter still has a point – a few actually.

Read the rest of this article at HappyChristian.net.


What Is a Healthy Self-Image?

“You must base your self-image on what God’s Word says about you, rather than on false, fickle standards…”

“How you see yourself and how you feel about yourself will have a tremendous impact on how far you go in life…”

“Self-esteem is that deep-down feeling you have about yourself. It’s how you regard yourself, your opinion or judgment of your own value…”

“Your self-image is much like a self-portrait; it is who and what you picture yourself to be…Who do you think you are?”

Sounds like a good biblical counselor doesn’t it?

It’s actually Joel Osteen!

And he’s right. Right in these partial definitions of self-image and self-esteem, and right in his assessment of how beneficial an accurate self-image is. As he says in chapter 7 of Your Best Life Now:

“A healthy self-image is one of the key factors in the success and happiness of any individual. The reason your self-concept is so important is: You will probably speak, act, and react as the person you think you are. Psychologists have proved that you will most consistently perform in a manner that is in harmony with the image you have of yourself.”

It’s common sense, isn’t it? As Osteen says:

“If you see yourself as unqualified, insignificant, unattractive, inferior, or inadequate, you will probably act in accordance with your thoughts…On the other hand, individuals who view themselves as God sees them are usually happy about who they are.”

He’s also right to note that our self-image may be largely the result of what other people have said about us or to us, how others have regarded us. Thus, his main challenge in this chapter is well worth hearing:

“The question is, does your image of who you are line up correctly with who God says you are?”

A great question. Unfortunately, Osteen’s answer about who God says we are is all wrong in all three tenses of our self-image – past, present, and future tense.

Past Tense: Who I Was

Although Osteen makes passing reference to a few flaws and imperfections that some of us may have, he doesn’t go anywhere near far enough in his understanding of the fall and the corrupting impact of sin upon us.

It’s a vital part of our self-image to understand that we were “born dead in sins,” with hearts that are “deceitful above all things and desperately wicked,” that “all the imaginations of our hearts are only evil continually,” and that God is justly angry with us in that state. You won’t find this humbling biblical view of who we were anywhere in Osteen’s writing.

Instead of sins, we seemingly have but a few minor flaws which we are not only to accept but even love, because “that’s how our heavenly Father loves us.” Osteen even seems comfortable with the inevitable head-swelling, chest-puffing effect of this teaching:

“We must learn to love ourselves, faults and all, not because we are egotists or because we want to excuse our shortcomings, but because that’s how our heavenly Father loves us. You can hold your head up high and walk with confidence knowing that God loves you unconditionally.”

Some might say that Osteen is referring to the Christian here. Part of the problem is that Osteen rarely if ever distinguishes between the Christian and the non-Christian. Everyone is addressed in the same general way, without discrimination.

But even if we do say Osteen is speaking to a Christian here, the Christian must always remember what he was before conversion. No matter how assured and sanctified he becomes, he must always remember what he once was. We see this repeatedly in the Apostle Paul’s testimony and in other eminent Christians through the years. A healthy self-image must take account of how unhealthy we are.

Present Tense: Who I Am

There are four important areas of self-image in the present tense.

1. I am now a saint. This is the most important – and ought to be the most prominent – part of the Christian’s self-image. Consider this sample of summary statements about what God has done for us, all through Christ, all by grace, and all essential elements of our self-image.

  • I am born again
  • I am forgiven
  • I am justified
  • I am accepted
  • I am redeemed
  • I am adopted
  • I am indwelt by God, and so on, and on…

2. I am still a sinner. Although all the above are true, our original corrupt nature is still very much part of us. Again, this is both a cause for our humility (Romans 7) and a springboard for entering more and more into God’s steady love for us despite our ongoing sins and sinfulness.

3. I am gifted by God. Although giftedness is where the world wrongly starts with self-image, Christians must not over-react by ignoring it. We must not let our prioritizing of the spiritual, and our views of our total depravity and our ongoing battle with sin, squeeze out all consideration of how God has blessed us with natural gifts. There’s nothing wrong, and plenty right, with us encouraging ourselves and other Christians by recognizing God’s blessing each other with attractive and helpful personalities, and also wonderful natural gifts and abilities.

4. I am blessed with relationships. Osteen’s view of self-image is way too selfish. It is entirely focused on the individual, isolated and detached from other people. But a large part of who we are is defined by who we are related to and involved with in our lives. We cannot define ourselves without defining ourselves in relation to others – our value to them and they to us.

Future Tense: Who I Will Be

A big part of being human is having a future focus; looking ahead to the kind of person we want to be and what we will do in the future. Joel Osteen certainly has a future tense in his view of self-image but it’s entirely focused on success in this world – what we will earn, what we will own, what we will achieve. It’s all about winning here below, about becoming a champion in our careers and other earthly spheres.

The Bible’s view of our future is very much focused on heaven (and then the new heavens and the new earth) and about what God will yet do to us, for us, and with us as He glorifies our souls at death and then our bodies at the general resurrection. This future hope creates joyful optimism and anticipation as we look ahead to how God will transform our imperfect images into His perfect image. In words that encapsulate the past, present, and future tenses of a healthy self-image, the Apostle John wrote:

“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” (1 John 3:1-3).

This is the seventh post in a series on Joel Osteen’s book, “Your Best Life Now.” Previous posts were A Book That Begins With A LiePositive NegativityYour Average Life Now, The Worst Ever (Mis)Quotation Of The Bible, My Favorite Joel Osteen Quote, and Triviality of Trivialities.


Check Out

Kindle Deals

Preparing Evangelistic Sermons: A Seven-Step Method for Preaching Salvation by Ramesh Richard ($1.99)

Gospel-Centered Teaching: Showing Christ in All the Scripture by Trevin Wax ($2.99)

God Is Love: A Biblical and Systematic Theology by Gerald Bray ($5.99)

Brothers, We Are Not Professionals: A Plea to Pastors for Radical Ministry by John Piper ($2.99)

Don’t Stop Believing: Why Living Like Jesus Is Not Enough by Michael E. Wittimer ($1.99)

Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart: How to Know for Sure You Are Saved by J. D. Grear ($2.99)

Thoughts On Religious Experience by Archibald Alexander ($0.99)

Identity by Eric Geiger ($2.99)

Heresy by Allister McGrath ($1.99)

John A. Broadus: A Living Legacy edited by David S. Dockery and Roger D. Duke ($0.99)

What’s Best Next: How the Gospel Transforms the Way You Get Things Done by Matt Perman ($3.99)

You, Your Family and the Internet: What every Christian in the digital age ought to know by David Clark ($3.99)

And some interesting non-Christian books at good prices.

Think Like a Freak: The Authors of Freakonomics Offer to Retrain Your Brain by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner ($4.99)

Manage Your Day-to-Day: Build Your Routine, Find Your Focus, and Sharpen Your Creative Mind (The 99U Book Series) edited by Jocelyn K. Glei ($5.99)

Leave No Man Behind: The Saga of Combat Search and Rescue by George Galdorisi and Thomas Phillips ($2.99)

The Heart of Everything That Is: The Untold Story of Red Cloud, An American Legend by Bob Drury and Tom Calvin ($1.99)

Best Blogs 

The Battle of the Psalter | Gentle Reformation

A Word to Famous Pastors | MOS – Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals

What are the 10 basic requirements for our church’s pastoral internship? | Practical ShepherdingPractical Shepherding

10 Pointers for Young Preachers | Biblical Preaching

William Tyndale’s Portrait by Steven Lawson | Ligonier Ministries Blog

Often Unnoticed Marks of Godliness | Rural Preacher

Christians Watching the Super Bowl? – Reformation21 Blog

Do You Believe God Will Save Your Kids? | Challies Dot Com

Why the Prosperity Gospel Is the Worst Pyramid Scheme Ever | TGC | The Gospel Coalition

13 Ways You Waste Your Money | Challies Dot Com

Learning how to tell someone “no.” – Jon Acuff

7 Good Reasons for a Leader to Learn and Use the Word NO – Ron Edmondson

 24 Free eBooks for You | Desiring God

Stupid Things People Say To Singles

No grand bargain with the sexual revolutionaries | Denny Burk

Midwives lose fight for conscientious objection to abortion

Video Links

Thomas Schreiner on Biblical Languages

Interview with Ed Welch of CCEF

Non-Profit Matches Veterans with Therapy Dogs

The Street Store

First Grader Shaves Head for Friend with Cancer

Porridge is Secret to Long Life for Scotland’s Oldest Woman at 108


500+ Preaching Resources

These are the most useful online preaching resources I’ve found on the web over the last 5-6 years, all organized under the following headings:

  • Preaching Courses
  • Basics Of Preaching
  • Exegesis
  • Expository Preaching
  • Commentaries
  • Introduction
  • Structure
  • Delivery of A Sermon
  • Using Notes
  • Application
  • Illustration
  • Old Testament Preaching
  • Evangelistic Preaching
  • Evaluating Preaching

For more resources in various categories click here.

PREACHING COURSES

John Piper’s Sermon Preparation | Alex Chediak

Don Carson’s Lectures On Preaching

Fundamentals Of Expository Preaching – Macarthur and Lawson

Derek Tidball Lectures on Preaching – Justin Taylor

Richard Gaffin Lectures: Reformed Hermeneutics – Justin Taylor

Tim Keller’s New Lectures On Preaching

How Sermons Work: David Murray’s Video Lectures on Preaching

BASICS OF PREACHING

Top 10 Books on Preaching

John Stott On Preparing A Sermon

What You’ll Never Hear About Preaching In Seminary

How Do You Define Preaching? Pure Church by Thabiti Anyabwile

John Wesley’s 12 Rules For Preachers

Praying During Sermon Preparation | Ordinary Pastor

The Craft of Life-Changing Preaching – The Gospel Coalition Blog

A Classical Analysis of Puritan Preaching – Reformation21

Preaching and Sermon Preparation – Reformed Forum

Things I’ve Learned Along the Way… | H.B. Charles Jr.

Four Rules for Preachers – Justin Taylor

Ed Stetzer – Preaching “One-Time” Sermons

8 rules for preachers from Luther – Reformation21 Blog

Preachers on Preaching | The Cripplegate

Reflections on Great Bible Teaching (Part 1, Part 2)

40 Lessons I’ve Learned About Preaching After My 400th Sermon | Pastoralized

Sermon preparation – Ray Ortlund

6 Bullet Points on Preaching | Challies Dot Com

The Centrality Of Preaching | RBC

Four Easy (and often overlooked) Tips that Could Improve Your Preaching | Ordinary Pastor

Ligon Duncan on Lloyd-Jones – Kevin DeYoung

10 steps to better preaching | Mission-minded Church | Sydneyanglicans.net

Don’t Strive To Be a Great Preacher – Reformation21 Blog

Josh Moody on Preaching – Justin Taylor

Paul Washer on Homiletics | The Cripplegate

Help in Preaching the Hardest Sermons – Justin Taylor

Principles for preaching « The Wanderer

Lloyd-Jones on the Practice of Real Preaching – The Gospel Coalition Blog

7 Ways to Preach a Lousy Sermon by Ken Collins -SermonCentral.com

7 Marks of Great Preaching by David Lose -SermonCentral.com

Practical Tips for Expository Preachers | Crossway

Urban Legends: The Preacher’s Edition : Kingdom People

How Shall They Hear Without a Preacher? – Reformation21

What is Homiletics? on Vimeo

YouTube – What is Redemptive-Historical Preaching?

How to Think of Sermon Preparation and Delivery Like a Three-Course Meal – Justin Taylor

Practical Questions On Preaching | Proclamation Trust

Greg Beale on Preaching

Gospel-Centered Preaching : Kingdom People

Preaching that Paints the Shedding of Christ’s Blood - Feeding on Christ

The Imperative of the Indicative: Preaching Christ from the Gospels

An Outline for a Process of Sermon Preparation – Justin Taylor

Read More


Video Lectures on R. C. Sproul’s “The Holiness of God”

The Adult Sunday School in my congregation just started a series of studies on R. C. Sproul’s classic book, The Holiness Of God. Each address is about 30 minutes long and deals with one chapter at a time. I give an introduction to the chapter, a summary outline of the chapter, and then some commentary on the chapter.

The first two sessions are below or you can access #1 here and #2 here, where you will also find a pdf handout for each lecture which provides an outline of each chapter. You can also download the handouts here (Chapter 1, Chapter 2). The audio improves significantly on the second recording.

The Holiness of God by R. C. Sproul: Chapter 1

The Holiness of God by R. C. Sproul: Chapter 2

The handouts have three sets of pages references. The first is to the white covered version of the Holiness of God, the second is the dark cover version, and the third refers to the Kindle location.