Random Thoughts

Today I met with someone who is a relatively new Christian. I first heard his testimony about a month ago. He had asked for counsel about what to do next in growing spiritually and I urged him to read through the New Testament. Today he told me that he had already read through! It's exciting to be around new believers who are enthusiastic about the Word. May his hunger for Scripture become epidemic among us.

This afternoon I watched part of Matt Chandler's message at the Text & Context conference that Resurgence is doing this year. The message was excellent, on "Preaching the Gospel in the Center of the Evangelical World." Afterwards, I read for a while in Don Carson's biography of his father, Memoirs of an Ordinary Pastor: The Life and Reflections of Tom Carson. Of special help to me was chapter six, "Discouragement, Despair, and a Vow," where Carson rehearses the darkest and most difficult years of Tom's life as pastor of a small, struggling church in French Canada. Don quotes from his father's journals, painting the picture of Tom's faithfulness in work and ministry despite his increasingly gloomy spirits. What was most helpful were Don's nine reflections on this era of his father's life - they amount to realistic and helpful counsel about the balance of work and rest, prayer and faith, perseverance and faithfulness. Good stuff.