50 Good Reasons to Sleep Longer

In an article headlined The Arrogance of Ignoring Our Need for Sleep leading scientists have warned of the supreme arrogance of trying to do without sufficient sleep.  We are sleeping between one and two hours less per night than people did 60 or so years ago and it’s having a devastating impact upon every part of our lives.

Over the last few months I’ve been collecting research about the dangers of too little sleep, which I’ve summarized below. Once you’ve read that, you’ll probably want to pre-order Adrian Reynolds’ much-needed new book: And So to Bed: A Biblical View of Sleep (might be the best $6 you’ve spent this year!).   Continue at David Murray

10 Characteristics of Mr Controller

I’m trying to figure out how to distinguish between authority and authoritarianism. Any help you can give me would be much appreciated because while I think I can tell the difference, I’m finding it difficult to define the difference. I think I know it when I see it, but can I explain it to someone else? Not so easy.

But let me take a stab at this and please jump in with your own suggestions and corrections. I’ll begin with some broad definitions:

Authority is the lawful use of lawful authority: God, the church, the state, or a business has given someone the right to govern and guide your life in a certain area, and that authority is being exercised in the right areas in the right way.   Continue at David Murray

Worldview - Predictions for Churches

A couple of articles highlighting expected trends in the church over the next year. First of all, some predictions from The Institute of Religion and Democracy:

• Polygamy will gain as an issue in religion and society.
• Church attendance will increase in major cities.
• …But Oldline Protestant denominations will lose at least another 300,000 members.
• Meanwhile, the National Council of Churches will come precariously close to collapse.
• Christians continue to increase in Israel while decreasing everywhere else in Mideast.
• Anti-Israel sentiments will surface in the evangelical world, especially on evangelical college campuses.
• Most evangelicals will remain against or ambivalent about mass legalization of illegal immigrants.   Continue at David Murray

Hell Links and Lessons

To finish up my eschatology class yesterday, I took my students on a tour of the best articles on the Internet on the subject of Hell. Here are some of the links and lessons we drew from these posts.

Understand the nature and roots of opposition to the doctrine of Hell
 

As Tom Ascol highlights in the sample quotes at the beginning of this post, there is widespread virulent and vicious opposition to the idea of hell.

Bertrand Russell: “There is one very serious defect to my mind in Christ’s moral character, and that is that He believed in hell.” The idea of eternal punishment for sin is “a doctrine that put cruelty in the world and gave the world generations of cruel torture.”

Religious philosopher John Hick refers to hell as a “grim fantasy” that is not only “morally revolting” but also “a serious perversion of the Christian Gospel.”  Continue at David Murray

How To Criticize A Preacher

So you’ve heard a sermon and you’re not happy. You feel the preacher got it badly wrong in either his interpretation, his words, his manner, his length, his whatever.

What now?

Well, I’m not going to tell you exactly what words to use. I’m simply going to give you ten questions to ask that I hope will produce the right words and the right way to say them should you ever have to offer criticism to a preacher.

1. Have I understood him correctly? Give the preacher the benefit of the doubt. Ask yourself, “Am I putting the worst possible construction on this?” Perhaps check with your husband or wife, “Did I hear this correctly…?”   Continue at David Murray

10 Scientifically Proven Ways to Increase Happiness

In 10 Scientifically Proven Ways to Increase Happiness, Beth Belle Cooper wrote:

I would love to be happier, as I’m sure most people would, so I thought it would be interesting to find some ways to become a happier person that are actually backed up by science. Here are ten of the best ones I found.

In summary:

1. Exercise more: 7 minutes might be enough
2. Sleep more: You’ll be less sensitive to negative emotions
3. Move closer to work: A short commute is worth more than a big house
4. Spend time with friends and family: Your relationships are worth more than $100,000    Continue at David Murray

What Is A Preacher? 8 Positives

We’ve already looked at ten negative answers to the question, “What is a preacher?” Today, the prophet Ezekiel is going to give us eight positive answers from chapter 33 of his book.

1. The preacher is a sinful man

Six times in chapter 33, God called Ezekiel “son of man,” and many other times throughout the book. Though called to a prominent position, he was a “son of man” and therefore a sinful man. A preacher is not an angel, nor a perfect specimen of humanity, but a flawed human being liable to errors and mistakes from time to time. The best of men are still men at their best.

2. The preacher is a called man

The preacher is not only called by other men and women (Ezekiel 33:2), but also by God (v. 7). Preachers must not be self-made and self-sent but God-made and God-sent.

For the preacher, that means that he doesn’t give up at the first sign of difficulty. If God has called, he must run with His message.    Continue at David Murray

See also:

 How Many Hours Must a Pastor Work to Satisfy the Congregation?

Pastors and Social Media (2): Be Intentional

Yesterday I posted the first part of my address to the URC Pastor’s Conference on “Blogs, Facebook, and the Flock: What is the relationship between social media and the local pastorate?” Part 1: Be Positive. This is Part 2: Be Intentional. 

Ligonier’s social media guru, Nathan Bingham, says that the most important question we must ask ourselves with social media is “Why?” (see The Best Social Media Tip I can Give You)

Why do I want to do social media? What’s my motive and aim? Is it for myself? is it for the church? Is it for unbelievers? Is it to evangelize unbelievers? Is it to disciple my flock? Is it to draw attention to resources? Is it to serve the wider Christian community?

Once you answer the “Why?” question it becomes a lot easier to answer other questions like:    Continue at David Murray

See also: 10 Things Pastor Should "Get" About Social Media

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13 Reasons why Election is not Foreseen Faith

Is it that important to believe in unconditional election – God’s sovereign pre-creation choice to save specific people, irrespective of anything they would do or be? Can’t we just agree with other Christians who say that election simply means that God foresaw which people would believe and therefore chose them?

In his chapter on Unconditional Election, in Whomever He Wills, Andrew Davis lists 13 damaging consequences that follow from understanding election as merely foreseen faith (pages 58-74).

The Damaging Consequences

1. It robs God of His glory as sovereign King of the universe: If God is the responder and man the initiator, God has surrendered control of the universe to the creature. God is a student of the human heart rather than the potter shaping the clay.
2. Gives man ground for boasting: If our faith is the fundamental cause of our election before the foundation of the world, we can stand on our faith and boast.   Continue at David Murray

Tullian Keeps Digging

I’ve tried very hard to be diplomatic and restrained in my criticisms of Tullian Tchividjian’s writing (here and here). I’ve tried to communicate genuine appreciation for his books while also expressing my deep concerns. I’ve watched others  gently and wisely caution him about the theological trajectory he is on, and yet he seems to just keep on digging deeper and going further. I’ve watched with growing anxiety as his imbalanced and confusing theology gains popularity. But there comes a time when we have to move from concern to alarm.

Yesterday’s blog post God doesn’t need your good works, but your neighbor does pushed me over that edge.

Using truth to eliminate truth

The headline, like much of the blog post contains truth. However Tullian uses that truth to eliminate another truth, a vitally important one. Of course God doesn’t need our good works. But Tullian uses that truth to argue that God is not interested in them, pleased by them, and nor does he respond to them.

Let’s start with this statement:

Forever freed from our need to pay God back or secure God’s love and acceptance, we are now free to love and serve others.

Yes we are freed from our need to pay God back or secure God’s love and acceptance. But please don’t use that truth as a proof that the Christian has no concern to show his love for God by worshipful and grateful service, or to deny that God’s revelation of His love to us, and our experience of it, can and does change depending on our love-stoked obedience (John 14:21, 23).   Continue at David Murray

Jesus the Ecumenical Separatist

One of the hardest balances to get right in the Christian life is to decide how ecumenical or how separatist we will be; how much will we unite with Christians who are different from us in some areas, and how much will we separate from them?

There are two relatively easy options: unite with everyone that calls themselves a Christian or separate from everyone who is not exactly like us. Neither option is biblical.

The biblical way is much more intellectually and spiritually demanding. In the Bible, God provides us with commands and examples of both unity and separation and calls us to exercise rigorous and prayerful discernment about what route to take on each occasion.

I want to explore this difficult area by looking at our different “bottom lines,” the different responses that will result, the different roles God calls us into, and the different sins at the different extremes.

Different bottom lines

In all our associations, we all have to ask, and keep asking, ourselves: “What issues are non-negotiables? What biblical principle is sufficiently important to separate over? What is the minimum agreement in truth and practice before we begin to unite with others?”   Continue at David Murray

Homosexuality, Polyester, and Shellfish

Churches and ministries are coming under increasingly aggressive pressure from militant homosexuality. Some homosexuals are combing websites looking for sermons and statements that they can use in the media to ridicule Christianity and build sympathy for their cause.

When challenged, many Christians and even many pastors, struggle to defend and explain their position in a way that is Scriptural, consistent, and loving. Homosexuals and the media often point to other Old Testament verses that forbid things that Christians now eat or use. How do we explain that? 

Well, here’s a short briefing paper that I hope will answer some of these questions, and also help Christians and pastors to explain the Bible’s teaching in a loving way. Below you will find a bullet point summary of the paper (each point is explained in fuller detail in the paper). For further reading, please see the books referenced in the footnotes. And a huge thank you to my Research Assistant for the huge amount of work he put into this paper. 

Homosexuality, polyester, and shellfish.

What do these three things have in common? Well, they are all mentioned in the Bible as forbidden by God. And the latter two come up in conversations about the first.  The charge is often that Christians are being inconsistent – we allow polyester and enjoy shellfish, but we still condemn homosexuality.

The real question is not why Christians are inconsistent. The real question is why and how Christians do make a distinction between homosexuality, polyester, and shellfish. Because they do, and it matters.   Continue at David Murray

How Can I Stop Using my Phone ALL the Time?

Adam Dachis asks: “How can I stop using my phone all the time and actually connect with people in the real world?”

I think many of us can identify with this question. If it’s not a problem for us, it probably is for our kids. If it is a problem for us, our bad example will soon make it a problem for our kids.

Apparently the most common accident for an iPhone is for men to drop it down the toilet! Which says a lot!!

This can be a real addiction. Scientists have detected that every time an email arrives, or we get an RT, or a Facebook like, our bodies inject a tiny squirt of pleasure chemical (it’s like a mini crack-cocaine hit). So every buzz or beep notification creates a craving in our bodies for the squirt-hit.

How to break the addiction? Adam’s strategies include:  Continue at David Murray

A Depressing Report about Depression

Most Americans do not feel comfortable speaking to their doctor about symptoms of depression.

Why?

That’s the question a team of psychologists at the University of California recently tried to answer via a phone survey of 1054 adults. Time reports the results:

1. 23% were afraid that their doctor would try to prescribe them antidepressant drugs.
2. 13% said they were worried they would be referred to a psychiatrist
3. 12% said they didn’t want to be considered a psychiatric patient.
4. 16% didn’t think psychological issues fell under the purview of a primary care doctor
5. 15% were concerned about medical record confidentiality.

The first three certainly coincide with my own experience of counseling people with depression; and there is usually even greater resistance to seeking medical help among Christians. The majority of emails, letters, phone calls, cries for help, that I regularly receive contain extremely painful personal stories describing the impact of depression on people’s lives, and the lives of their loved ones. But they almost always conclude with some variation of, “But, I know that anti-depressants are not for me,” or “But, I want to beat this on my own.”

Why should this be?     Keep Reading...

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Christians Get Depressed Too

One of my favorite conference moments to date has been an interaction between John MacArthur and John Piper. The details are a bit hazy, but if memory serves me correct, they were participating in a panel discussion and the moderator asked them about depression. Piper described some of the darkest hours of his life and ministry, saying that for a long period of time—months or years—he wept every day. Then it was MacArthur’s turn to speak and he said, “I’ve never been depressed for a day in my life.” It was a practical statement, I think, devoid of any kind of judgment. It was simply the truth. I may not remember it perfectly, but it happened something like that. And it set in stark contrast how two men, both used mightily by the Lord, can have such different experiences and such different dispositions.

Christians get depressed too. This statement may seem a wee bit trite, but it’s an important message and one Christians need to hear. Too many people have been taught that Christians—true Christians, good Christians, real Christians—don’t get depressed or that depression is always the outworking of serious sin. This heaps guilt and anguish upon those who are already suffering mental or emotional pain. Is my depression a result of a sin I’ve committed against God? Is there a sin I need to confess to make it all go away? Am I even a Christian? With the anguish comes stigma so that those who suffer so often suffer in silence, afraid and ashamed to admit what they are going through. Many Christians sympathize with physical pain but roll their eyes at emotional pain.   Keep Reading...

The panel discussion Tim Challies is talking about is:

A Conversation with John Piper and John MacArthur

See Also:

For Pastors Battling Depression

Christians Get Depressed Too

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly 1 out of every 10 adult Americans currently suffers from depression. Depression is not confined to the United States. The World Health Organization describes depression as “common” in the world today, affecting an estimated 121 million persons. If we were to consider those who have not been clinically diagnosed with depression, but who suffer periodically from mild forms of depression, these figures would undoubtedly swell.

Depression, then, is widespread. It is in our families, our neighborhoods, our places of work, and in the church. How ought believers to minister to those who are bearing this burden? Regrettably, it is just here that well-intentioned but uninformed Christians have done more harm than good. Sometimes they offer little more than pious cant. Sometimes they end up blaming the depressed person for his depression. The impact on the depressed Christian can be devastating. Keep Reading...

Of Sheep and Shepherds

David Murray draws on his Highland experience to speak of sheep and of shepherds. Sheep are . . .

• foolish.
• slow to learn.
• unattractive.
• demanding.
• stubborn.
• strong.
• straying.
• unpredictable.
• copycats.
• restless.
• dependent.
• the same everywhere.

The shepherd is a sheep.
The shepherd . . .

• is patient with his sheep.
• knows his sheep.
• values his sheep.
• loves his sheep.
• observes his sheep.
• feeds his sheep.
• leads his sheep.
• speaks well of his sheep.
• pursues his sheep.
• rests his sheep.
• perseveres with his sheep.

More from David on leadership here.

A Plea for Profound Simplicity

For many years we’ve rightly bemoaned the widespread blight of too many shallow sermons. And, of course, that problem remains a problem. However, in many circles, especially perhaps in some Reformed churches, we may be in danger of over-complicating sermons.
By over-complicating sermons I mean:

Too much material: far too much content crammed into far too little space.

Too many words: just because someone can speak 200 words per minute without a breath, does not mean that we can hear and understand at that rate.
 
Too many long words: why use long words when there are perfectly adequate shorter substitutes? And why use any Latin/Greek/Hebrew words? Continue Reading>>>

What Dawkins, Hawking, and Hitchens know about God

Help For Hurting Churches in Dealing With Apostasy