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Just a couple quickies this evening.  First, according to a recent survey here are the pastors/theologians/leaders most influencing this generation of pastors:

- Rounding out the top 10, after Billy Graham and Chuck Swindoll, are:

- Charles Stanley, senior pastor of First Baptist Church, Atlanta, and founder of In Touch Ministries.

- Rick Warren, senior pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., and author of the best-selling book, “The Purpose-Driven Life.”

- John MacArthur, pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, Calif., and president and featured teacher of the Grace to You ministry.

- Barbara Brown Taylor, religion teacher at Piedmont College in northeast Georgia and author of 12 books including “An Altar in the World.”

- David Jeremiah, founder of Turning Point Radio and Television Ministries and senior pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church in San Diego County, Calif.

- Max Lucado, minister of writing and preaching at the Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, Texas, and the recipient of three Christian Book of the Year awards.

- John Piper, pastor for preaching at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis and author of more than 30 books, including “Desiring God.”

- Andy Stanley, senior pastor of North Point Community Church, Buckhead Church, and Browns Bridge Community Church – all in the Atlanta area – and founder of North Point Ministries.

Not that we live in a personality-driven culture or anything like that.

And from Carl Stam’s weekly read this week comes the following:

What is the relationship between tradition and modern culture in your church’s worship gatherings? What is your posture towards old and new elements of Christian liturgy and music? Today’s worship quote is from a brand new book by Jim Belcher, Deep Church: A Third Way Beyond Emerging and Traditional.

What does worship look like for the deep church? And what guides us as we plan our worship events? It all starts with how we frame it. . . . We attempt to hold the Bible, the tradition and our cultural context in tension, allowing them to inform every part of our worship. Since the Bible does not give us enough information to construct a worship service, we must fill in the blanks. We are told in the Bible to sing songs, but we are not given the tunes, or told what kind of lyrics the songs should have or how emotionally intense the experience should be. When we are commanded to pray we are not told whether to use written prayers or extemporaneous prayers.

In order to be faithful we must draw on not only Scripture but tradition as well. But we also draw on our cultural sensitivities and our desire to “worship before the nations,” making sure that our worship is accessible to an outsider. Keeping all three ˜Bible, tradition and culture˜ in mind, we are able to craft a worship gathering that is neither irrelevant nor syncretistic. If any one of the triad is missing, we risk falling into one of these two extremes. Keeping them in tension we are able to maintain a powerful worship service that is simultaneously countercultural and culturally relevant. As Tim Keller [Redeemer Presbyterian Church, NYC] says so well, “I believe the solution to the problem of the ‘worship wars’ is neither to reject nor to enshrine historic tradition but to forge new forms of corporate worship that take seriously both our histories and contemporary realities, all within a framework of biblical theology.”

The author goes on to describe how deep worship incorporates seven priorities:

1. Ancient and new
2. Biblical drama
3. Joy and reverence
4. Priesthood of all believers
5. Profound but accessible sermons
6. Weekly Communion
7. Guest-friendly doxological evangelism

While I have not read the book, the balance and tension between text, tradition, and cultural context is appealing.  The list, no doubt, is a discussion starter.

New church website is up.  There are changes and additions yet to be made, but the ComGroup has done a great job of getting this launched.  The goal of this site is to communicate more to the “outside” audience than inside the New Hope community.  There is an invisible, members-only side of the site we use for that.  This entailed paring back a lot on the good, but info-heavy material on the previous iteration.  We partnered with Elexio for this project; it has been a good experience.  Hopefully, we’ll be able to tweak the blog a bit to achieve the same kind of look and feel.  Your feedback is welcome and desired.

I preached yesterday on 1 Corinthians 3.  The emphasis was on a man-centered ministry versus a God-centered ministry.  As usual, the preacher is never quite satisfied with how the delivery matched the study and desired effects, but here are a couple of the main thoughts.  First, Paul’s complete humiliation as a servant in God’s field/building.  He would be distraught at the cult-like, personality-driven orientation of current evangelicalism.  In even the most conservative ministry circles it is more about what so-and-so is doing, thinking, writing, than about the Lord of the church.  Second, God-centered ministries are built on the foundation of the gospel and indwelt by the Spirit.  This means we must take measurable steps to make gospel-centeredness a reality in our congregations, and we must be conscious of the Spirit’s presence…this entails a serious effort at wise master-building and a healthy sense of well-rounded fear in the process.

John Armstrong insists Your Church is Too Small…he is not talking about warm bodies in the pew, but instead about a connection to the larger Church.  He recommends:

(1) Cultivating a commitment to restore the sacraments; (2) increasing our appetite to know more about the ancient church; (3) express love for the whole church and desire to see the church become one; (4) blend practices of worship, devotion, and prayer from all three streams of the Church (Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant); (5) increase interest in integrating more liturgical depth and structure with spontaneity and freedom in the Holy Spirit; (6) provide greater involvement in signs and symbols of worship such as crosses, banners, and clerical vestments; and (7) continue a commitment to personal salvation, solid biblical teaching, and the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

Okay, not everybody of going to be comfortable with everything on this list, but I am all for 1 (a more regular celebration of the table is one means for attaining the gospel-centeredness mentioned above), 2 (history is always a good thing), 3 (though not attainable in life under the sun, it is a desire and prayer of the Savior), 4 (some yes, some no), 5 (absolutely…every church has a liturgy, and as I tweeted last week, some are more meaningFUL and intionalFUL than others), 6 (yes…worship involves all of us, to include our senses…symbols convey meaning), and 7 (of course).  HT:  euangelizomai

On critisizing Islam, and a Pentagon that won’t.

Should churches be missional (sending out its members to unbelievers) or attractional (bringing unbelievers in to its members)?

Andreas Köstenberger, prolific author on the apostle John’s writings, makes the following observation about Jesus’ prayer for His disciples (found in John 17:20-26):

Unity (together with love) constitutes an essential prerequisite for evangelism. Outreach to unbelievers is rooted in the community of believers as a whole rather than begin the isolated enterprise of individuals who have the gift of evangelism. This realization has come to the fore once again in the present postmodern climate, which accentuates the subjective nature of knowledge and truth. In such an atmosphere, it is very difficult to reason someone into the kingdom by mere rational argument. Rather, the unbeliever must first be brought into the community of believers where he or she can experience unified and loving relationships among Christians. This experience, in turn, will prepare the unbeliever to hear the gospel message (from Encountering John, page 173).

Helpful information: How to wreck your church in three weeks.  Looks guaranteed to work.

A church member who is very involved in the Reynoldsburg Emmaus Community recommended this story on spiritual direction.  By and large this seems to be a lost art in the evangelical church.  The pace of our lives and the forms in our culture are not friends to this sort of spiritual discipline.  A twelve week class on discipleship can be managed and a weekend retreat once a year is doable, but a sustained mentoring relationship over time is a horse of another color.

Even the Pope says, “Go forth and blog.”  This is in interesting juxtaposition to the previous story.  Could Wesley or Calvin have limited their letter writing to twitter-length (140 characters)?  There is a call to be both counter-cultural and culturally savvy.

Walid Phares, one of my favorite authors on radical Islam, gives his .02 on the Ft. Hood shooter.

Contested Commons:  The Future of American Power in a Multipolar World.  A serious read.

A guy in Haiti is saved by his iPhone…it does more than transform your very existence.

Al Mohler comments on the Kaiser Family Foundation’s study of the online life of kids.  One of our rules:  no media in the bedroom–none, zip, zero, nada.  He continues along this theme with today’s blogpost.

When even the MSM is jumping on the omission of the Fort Hood shooter’s ties to radical Islam, one knows something is up.  This does not inspire confidence either.  Geert Wilders is unafraid to speak the ideology-that-must-not-be-named; unfortunately, he is on trial because of it.

D.I.M.E. stands for diplomacy, information, military, and economics.  These are the instruments of power (IOPs) the US leverages in the war against terrorism.  While most attention is on the “M” the other IOPs are just as important, if not more vital to ultimate victory.  Here is a link to a .pdf article lamenting the struggle in the information war despite success in the shooting war.  Speaking of “shooting wars,” video game skills may contribute to flying drones, but iPods are not helpful on combat patrol.

Texts and tweets are key tools in the Haiti effort.  Meanwhile, Koffi Annan believes “we” can turn Haiti around as he makes the case for nation building, of not just Haiti, but any “fragile state.”  Annan places the burden squarely on the back of “donor nations.”  The difficulty here is that too often “nations” moves from the plural to the singular as the US carries the load over the long haul.  I want to be Job at the city gate (Job 29:12-13), but even he did not sit alone.

Conflict resolution does not occur via email and what happens when our conversation takes place in 140 character snippets.

For me, but apparently not for the majority of others according to Rasmussen (56%), driving is much more than going from A to B.  I have my dad’s truck driving blood and constantly long for an open road.

The Gospel Coalition on principled self-denial and leadership in the church.  How is it measured?  Taking a quick initial shot…church leaders should be among the most willing to limit the exercise of spiritual liberty for the sake of the weakest sheep in the flock.  I am also discovering many of my personal hobbies and interests must be replaced by loves related to the church; this is a painful process.  Regarding leadership selection along these lines–we don’t do a good job.

On Sunday we collected an offering for a couple of mission organizations in Haiti, but for some, sending money to Haiti is not a no-brainer.  Stewardship issues bubble up to the surface when a country is racked by political corruption and built on a foundation of crumbling infrastructure.  The RAND Corporation recommends fundamental reform; it is going to be a long haul.  Tough love required.  Update:  The real damage in Haiti occurred before the quake.

I enjoy politics; I keep politics out of the pulpit (see self-denial above).  However, it is difficult to ignore the scene change occurring yesterday in Massachusetts.  Mort Zuckerman’s resulting admonition to the President is stinging.  How do we respond when a friend tells us we are wrong?

The DoD report on the Fort Hood massacre refuses to address the elephant in the room.

From the NYT, “If Your Kids Are Awake, They’re Probably Online.”  Hello.

No cognac and roses were left at Edgar Allen Poe’s grave yesterday, the 201st anniversary of his birth,  breaking a tradition that began around 1949.  Is the raven saying, “Nevermore?”  If so, someone should pick up the ball bottle.

The Gospel Coalition captures the essence of a Christian response to the events in Haiti in this paragraph from their founding documents…

God created both soul and body, and the resurrection of Jesus shows that he is going to redeem both the spiritual and the material. Therefore God is concerned not only for the salvation of souls but also for the relief of poverty, hunger, and injustice. The gospel opens our eyes to the fact that all our wealth (even wealth for which we worked hard) is ultimately an unmerited gift from God. Therefore the person who does not generously give away his or her wealth to others is not merely lacking in compassion, but is unjust. Christ wins our salvation through losing, achieves power through weakness and service, and comes to wealth through giving all away. Those who receive his salvation are not the strong and accomplished but those who admit they are weak and lost. We cannot look at the poor and the oppressed and callously call them to pull themselves out of their own difficulty. Jesus did not treat us that way. The gospel replaces superiority toward the poor with mercy and compassion. Christian churches must work for justice and peace in their neighborhoods through service even as they call individuals to conversion and the new birth. We must work for the eternal and common good and show our neighbors we love them sacrificially whether they believe as we do or not. Indifference to the poor and disadvantaged means there has not been a true grasp of our salvation by sheer grace (Theological Vision For Ministry, “The Doing of Justice and Mercy,” section V, part 5).

A mind-numbing series of photos from Haiti, plus a number of links to follow various related stories.

Hearing Pat Robertson the way most would versus studying Pat Robertson’s the way few will.  My take:  Robertson should have been way more saavy in this discussion, knowing the vultures are ready to feed.  Better to have avoided the issue of why by a huge margin.  We don’t need omniscience in the pulpit.

The end of Mwanza Maandiko?  Say it ain’t so!

Looks like John Yoo has written a good read on the use/abuse? of presidential power.

An iPhone App with a great name to track earthquakes: “I Felt That.”

I downloaded Tweetdeck today and love it!

The theological serenity prayer:  “Lord, grant me the serenity to humbly accept the theological inconsistencies that do not make a difference, the courage to graciously challenge the ones that do, and the wisdom and knowledge to know the difference.”  More help for discerning here.  HT: Reclaiming the Mind

Was Howard Carter, the archaeologist that discovered King Tut’s tomb, a thief?  A fascinating read.

A WSJ reporter reads a diary entry from a perished, young relief worker anticipating his/her time of ministry in Haiti.

The Center for Defense Studies begins a series of reports on what we are getting ourselves into in Haiti.  The first two-page .pdf highlights stability ops and gives an order of forces deployed.

Small Wars Journal with good advice for military humanitarians.

Wheaton embraces the early church fathers by opening a Center for Early Christian Studies.

How not to be an American missionary in Scotland.  Good stuff for cross-cultural ministry here.

After the devastating tsunami of 2004 a number of theologs attempted to explain the catastrophe in light of God’s love and justice. Here is my condensed version from a few sources of the conversation in those days, albeit paraphrased:

Reformed Judaism:  God had nothing to do with this.  There are things beyond His control.  A God of love would not allow events like this to occur.  If I have to defend God from these kinds of accusations, I will.

Islamic:  God is in absolute control over every atom and molecule in the world.  If the world quakes, He did it.  If the tide rushes in, He caused it.  We may not know in this life why tragedies happen, but someday we will.  We should be certain we do not do things that cause God’s anger.

Hindu:  Man has caused incredible destruction on the planet.  We have not cared for the world as we ought, and this is God’s response to our ineptitude.  The position of the planets does not help.  This is simply the karma, or destiny of those who died.  At some point, we all hope to ascend to our creator and escape this cycle of life and death.

Orthodox Judaism:  God is angry at the inhabitants of the world for their great sins–immorality and hatred.  This is His punishment.

Some Jehovah’s Witnesses and some Evangelical Christians:  It is a sign of the end times; it is God’s judgment (on Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, homosexuals, the sex industry, etc). 

Greek Orthodox:  Let the scientists determine why this happened.  Why make God the fall guy and attach some theological significance?

Liberal Christianity:  I don’t believe God is in heaven tweaking the geologic plates and splashing around the global bath tub.  The question is not why, but how.  How will we respond and bring Jesus to those who are suffering? 

Buddhist:  This is simply the working out of karma in the lives of those who died.  We believe the mind is eternal.  So after about three days those who died will have the opportunity to be reborn into society and help others.

Atheists:  This is certainly a stark reminder that belief in God can’t help us at times like this.  We need to respond in a compassionate way to those whose lives have been destroyed, and then we need to build a more effective system to warn us of any future tsunamis. 

One Evangelical Baptist:  It is God’s call for me, and others, to repent.  I am reminded that I could have been in the path of that tsunami.  I need to humble myself before God.

I’ll just add one more voice responding to the current event in Haiti:

Danny Glover:  “They’re all in peril because of global warming. They’re all in peril because of climate change . . . . When we did what we did at the climate summit in Copenhagen, this is the response, this is what happens.”

I don’t pretend these snippets actually encapsulate everything these religious leaders intend to say about how their worldview informs their response to this event.  I only list them to note the variety of opinion, and the rapid divergence of differing (a)theological perspectives.  They do all speak to the universal human need to offer some explanation, some reason, some making sense, to an event of this magnitude.  We are certainly not the first to wrestle with these questions, and as Christians we are compelled to turn to scripture to find the answers, or perhaps the right questions. 

The oldest book in the Bible may very well be Job.  If it is not the oldest, it at least records events that appears to predate most others (1-2; 42: 10-17), though the poetical sections may have been written long after the events occurred.  The book of Job is a theodicy–an attempt to justify the ways of God to man–to demonstrate that evil in the world does not conflict with the goodness of God. 

Job is a righteous man who suffers incredible loss in a series of manmade and natural disasters.  He loses it all–his livestock, his farms, his servants, and all his children.  At the end of the day he probably wishes he had lost his wife as well, because when he is sitting on an ash heap scraping boils off his skin, she tells him to curse God and die.  You wouldn’t think it could get worse.  It does.

Job’s three friends travel to his place to help and offer words of counsel.  For seven days they sit with him in silence.  They should have kept their mouths shut, but these neophyte theologians are convinced they know why all this has happened.  They spend 35 chapters debating retribution theology–the belief that God is punishing Job for some sin in his life.  Eliphaz says to Job, “Behold, how happy is the man whom God reproves, so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.”  Job’s three friends might have us convinced of their neat little theological system except for one thing, God doesn’t agree.

After listening to the friend’s empty accusations, and Job’s growing prideful protestations, Yahweh reveals himself to Job (beginning in ch. 38).  He asks Job a long series of rhetorical questions:  “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?  Can you loose the cords of Orion?  Can you send forth lighting?  Do you give the horse his might?  Is it by your understanding the hawk soars?”  And the list goes on and on, piling up like a mountain of waves against Job’s frail and utterly powerless humanity.  By the time Yahweh is finished, all Job can say is, “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.”   He repents in dust and ashes before God’s sovereignty.

Now we get to the meat.  God rebukes Job’s friends for their presumptive theology.  How dare they claim to know the counsel of God!  And what is especially fascinating, God never tells Job why he has experienced such calamity.  Job is left with his faith to wrestle through God’s omnipotence and God’s goodness.  Job is convinced more than ever that Yahweh is in absolute control of all things, but Yahweh does not necessarily explain His ways to man.  Faith must rule the day.

As readers we are given a little insight to all this.  We know from the early chapters there is a bit of a cosmic bet unfolding in Job’s life.  The Satan believes that Job serves God because of material prosperity, but Yahweh is convinced Job’s obedience is born out of a pure heart.  Yahweh grants The Satan permission to “touch Job” as a test of his faithfulness.

So as readers, we get a glimpse behind the curtain; however, as pilgrims on the planet, there are no glimpses behind the curtain.  We cannot pretend to know why God, in His sovereignty, does this or that.  It is the height of arrogance, and following the error of Job’s three friends, to answer questions to which only God knows the answer.  We do not eavesdrop on the counsels of heaven!  We simply bow before the awesome sovereignty of the King of Glory.

The lesson of Job is let God be God, and every man a liar.  We cannot know why this or that happens.  We simply humble ourselves before God with the quiet assurance that “the Judge of all the earth shall do right.”  All creation groans and travails waiting the day of redemption.  We long for the day when He shall make all things new.  In the interim, thank God for the next breath, the gift of life, the cross of Christ, and Jesus’ resurrection from the tomb that assures us death has no final victory!

The USS Carl Vinson arrives in Haiti.   Air Force Special Ops are among the first with boots on the ground, along with the Coast Guard just offshore.  The Army is gearing up for a significant effort, while the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit will arrive on board the USS Bataan this weekend.  Bottom line is that the US military, along with many private aid organizations, will be the firstest with the mostest and no doubt stay the longest.  America’s rapid response to crisis around the globe is characteristic and almost expected.  Her people give.

Pastors with iPhones can register for a free version of a new app called “iPastor” to be released ($4.99) on 1 February 2010.  It looks like an good tool for keeping track on the condition of the flock.  Here’s some of what the app can do:

Record an unlimited number of ministry needs
Assign multiple categories to a particular person’s needs
Assign multiple care strategies to address the need
Record notes as you address the need
Track how the person is associated with your church (member, friend, etc)
Record relevant contact information
Delegate a ministry need to another person
Sort needs according to situation, care strategy, or by delegate
Review fulfilled needs for historical record, reminders, followup etc.

Major Nidal Malik Hasan’s supervisors may face punishment for his unfaltering career progression despite flashing warning signs.  Robert Spencer at Jihad Watch questions whether this will make any difference “…as long as the military remains pro-Sharia and pro-Islam, and refuses to explore or discuss the elements of Islam that jihadists use to justify violence and terror.”

Dr. Krauthammer’s analysis of why Obama is where Obama is.

Insight to the Haitian people.

Peter Wehner responds with humility and clarity to Pat Robertson’s omniscience.

Robert Spencer on the political correctness lurking behind the Ft. Hood rampage.

The most recent edition of 9Marks eJournal focuses on liberal evangelicalism.  Many of the articles look worthy of a read, but my eye caught a review of the book, Why Join a Small Church? by John Benton.

Jonah Goldberg writes an interesting piece on Avatar, noting that James Cameron’s adventure is a story in which the good guys end up accepting Jesus Christ as Savior…not.  Of course, that would have made the movie truly counter-cultural, but in reality it is insanely boring and predictable in its derision of Western culture and admiration for animistic mysticism–a movie to be consumed once for the extraordinary special effects and then promptly forgotten.  At least that’s what I thought.  It turns out this bit of digital wizardry is sending viewers off the deep end in an embrace of fantasy over reality according to a recent article at CNN.  Here are a couple examples:

“Ever since I went to see ‘Avatar’ I have been depressed. Watching the wonderful world of Pandora and all the Na’vi made me want to be one of them. I can’t stop thinking about all the things that happened in the film and all of the tears and shivers I got from it,” Mike posted. “I even contemplate suicide thinking that if I do it I will be rebirthed in a world similar to Pandora and the everything is the same as in ‘Avatar.’ “

And another by a 17 year old:

“When I woke up this morning after watching Avatar for the first time yesterday, the world seemed … gray. It was like my whole life, everything I’ve done and worked for, lost its meaning.  It just seems so … meaningless. I still don’t really see any reason to keep … doing things at all. I live in a dying world….One can say my depression was twofold: I was depressed because I really wanted to live in Pandora, which seemed like such a perfect place, but I was also depressed and disgusted with the sight of our world, what we have done to Earth. I so much wanted to escape reality.”

Of course, the truth stumbled upon by this young viewer is like an old, comfortable pair of jeans for a follower of Jesus.  “You say this world is dying?  You say your life has lost meaning?  You say you long for some place better?”  Pull up a chair, let’s talk about reality.

Major Nidal Malik Hasan coasted through a broken promotion system in the military despite peer’s misgivings about his personal views and professional performance.  I attended Commissioned Officer Training a few years after a friendly fire shoot down of helicopters by F-15 drivers in Iraq that resulted in several deaths.  At the time, all the buzz was the positive Officer Performance Reviews (OPR) the pilots received in the months following the incident; it was as if they had never pulled the trigger.  The Air Force was bent on teaching its upcoming officers that “firewalling” (all positive grades all the time) OPRs was not acceptable.  Sadly, the practice has not changed.  A single black mark on an OPR is a career ender, so the result is a culture of promotion.  This is not THE reason that Major Hasan survived in the Army, but it is no doubt a contributing factor.  Loss of life didn’t lead to change in 1994, I am not convinced it will in 2010.  “Truthing in love” and “exhorting one another daily” might work in more than one world.

This marks a return to blogdom because it is important, not because there is more time in the day.  I was reminded yesterday, in a conversation with a visiting family at church, that almost every new person in the pew has already frequented the church website, and by clicking probably the blog as well.  Therefore, one had better keep their blog updated, or that six month old post will be saying far more than originally intended.

Every year our church emphasizes the same themes on the four Sundays in January:  listening to God (Bible reading), talking to God (praying), engaging our world (this grew out of “Life Sunday” which is observed by many evangelical churches since Roe v. Wade and sometimes by us), and being the church (which corresponds with our yearly congregational meeting).  This year we have a fifth Sunday, so we’ll have our normal monthly observance of the Lord’s table and delight in the gospel.  I began doing this a number of years ago after reading of John Piper’s similar emphasis, at least on Bible reading, prayer, and life.  It is a helpful practice as we are challenged to engage in the basic spiritual disciplines at the beginning of each year.  We are “working the angles” as Eugene Peterson says.

2010 marks the year that we began reading the English Standard Version at New Hope.  After using one translation for 37 years, and then the NASB for the last 11 years, it seems rather drastic to make a second switch so soon, but the ESV is just too excellent a tool to bypass.  I especially love the study bible version and the online access to the text and notes, including the ability to create your own.  I hope every family at New Hope will have at least one copy of the study bible in their home.  Crossway is making the text incredibly accessible through their bible reading plans wedded to technology.  Our small group is reading through the gospels this year and so I access the ESV yearly reading plan via the RSS feed into NetNewsWire.  If I am too busy to read the text, I can just click on the “listen” button and have it read to me while I putter around the study.  In addition, I’ve purchased the iPhone app of the study bible where the notes scroll right along with the text.  Simply unreal.

Here is an excerpt from John Owen’s “The Glory of Christ” (Works of John Owen, volume 1; pages 291 & 292). Beholding the glory of Christ is the only way to be free from the bait and captivity of sin. (Owen is not easy to read, but is well worth the effort.)

Herein, then, our present edification is principally concerned; for in this present beholding of the glory of Christ, the life and power of faith are most eminently acted. And from this exercise of faith doth love unto Christ principally, if not solely, arise and spring. If, therefore, we desire to have faith in its vigour or love in its power, giving rest, complacency, and satisfaction unto our own souls, we are to seek for them in the diligent discharge of this duty [=beholding the glory of Christ]; –elsewhere they will not be found. Herein would I live; –herein would I die;–hereon would I dwell in my thoughts and affections, to the withering and consumption of all the painted beauties of this world, unto the crucifying all things here below, until they become unto me a dead and deformed thing, no way meet for affectionate embraces. . . .

Our minds are apt to be filled with a multitude of perplexed thoughts;–fears, cares, dangers, distresses, passions, and lusts, do make various impressions on the minds of men, filling them with disorder, darkness, and confusion. But where the soul is fixed in its thoughts and contemplations on this glorious object [i.e., the glory of Christ], it will be brought into and kept in a holy, serene, spiritual frame. For ‘to be spiritually-minded is life and peace.’ And this it doth by taking off our hearts from all undue regard unto all things below, in comparison of the great worth, beauty, and glory of what we are conversant with. See Phil 3:7-11.

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