Today’s guest post comes from David Wayne, the Jollyblogger.  Adrian and David were so close and interacted so much in the early days of Christian blogging that at one point there was an internet rumour that they were the same person!

Adrian’s early debates with David Wayne over the charismatic issue were some of his favourite early blog posts. David has been blogging a lot less lately due in large part to his fight with cancer.  It is great to hear from him again.

God is to be Glorified in Us, Not Useful to Us

By David Wayne

During Adrian’s month away from the blog, he has hand-picked a selection of the most popular posts of the year so far to re-run.

Today we feature, “10 Ways a Christian should respond to the earthquake in Japan.” As the world was reeling from the astonishing news from Japan, this post proved quite popular as it attempted to think through how Christians should respond:

10 Ways a Christian should respond to the earthquake in Japan

As Japan braces itself for a possible further serious earthquake, and deals with the consequences of such massive devastation caused by the last one, not to mention the risk of a major nuclear incident, how should Christians respond?

The rest of this article is available by following the link above.

As Japan braces itself for a possible further serious earthquake, and deals with the consequences of such massive devastation caused by the last one, not to mention the risk of a major nuclear incident, how should Christians respond? Please understand that none of this is intended to claim that we have all the answers to such a disaster. In fact, like Job’s friends’ initial response, often the best thing we can do is say absolutely nothing, and share people’s pain.

I write this article with many unanswered questions. But, unlike those who allow suffering to drive them away from God, I am convinced that only God makes sense of suffering. For if the Japanese who died really were just the random fruit of evolution, why should it matter to us if they died? But if each of them are made in the image of their creator, and lovingly crafted together in their mother’s womb, our inherent feeling that suffering is NOT welcome in this world makes perfect sense. God loves every human being, they are precious to him.

1. We should not be surprised. We like to imagine that we are safe in the world.  The truth is that, like what may well be tens of thousands of Japanese who have drowned, we will all die one day.  Whenever that day comes, it will feel to us just as sudden, just as unwanted, and just as shocking.  But despite our trying to pretend otherwise, we are not immortal, and there is no guarantee that we will live to a ripe old age (Hebrews 9:27).
2. We should be humbled before the awesome power of “Nature,” which is actually the creation of a sovereign and awesome God whose power is greater than 10,000 tsunamis (Job 38:1-41). These scenes quite rightly should take our breath away, and make us realize how foolish our pride truly is.  We came from the dust and will one day return to that same dust.
3. We should not assume that the end is at hand. Yes, there do seem to be a lot of natural disasters lately.  Yes, Jesus did predict such things. But he also told us not to be alarmed, and there have been many such natural disasters over the centuries.  We do not know when Christ will return, but have a task to do in “speeding” his coming. (Mark 13:7-8, 2 Peter 3:12)
4. We should not assume that the end is not at hand. A disaster like this should remind us that Jesus said he will come like a thief in the night when we are least expecting it.  (1 Thessalonians 5:1-8)
5. We should not specifically blame the Japanese. There is a tendency to quickly jump to judgment in some evangelical circles. Perhaps this is because we secretly believe that because of our so-called righteous living we have made a deal with God that will protect us in this world from early death and other disasters. If we can therefore persuade ourselves that the Japanese somehow brought this on themselves, our delusion remains intact. The Bible knows nothing of such thinking, at least in the vast majority of occasions. There are a few biblical situations where natural disasters were the specific judgment of God. But these were rare, and God always ensured people knew about it by a proclamation from his infallible prophets. What seems to be far more common is the idea that God sends the rain on the righteous and the unrighteous (Matthew 5:45), and that accidents do not tell us that their victims were more sinful than us, but that we all deserve death just the same (Luke 13:1-5).  See for example these two quotes:
   

   “As I look for a moment upon the poor mangled bodies of those who have been so suddenly slain, my eyes find tears, but my heart does not boast, nor my lips accuse — far from me be the boastful cry, “God, I thank thee that I am not as these men are!” Nay, nay, nay, it is not the spirit of Christ, nor the spirit of Christianity. While we can thank God that we are preserved, yet we can say, “It is of thy mercy that we are not consumed,” and we must ascribe it to his grace, and to his grace alone. But we cannot suppose that there was any betterness in us, why we should be kept alive with death so near.” Charles H. Spurgeon, vol. 7, Sermon 408.

   “You see what a horrible end those people came to; they didn’t think it was going to happen. O they knew they were going to die someday; but they didn’t know what that would mean. The horror of their end took them by surprise. Well unless you repent, that is the way it is going to be for you. Your end will be far more horrible than you think it is. You will not be ready for it. It will surprise you terribly. In that sense you will LIKEWISE perish.” John Piper

6. We should not blame God, but we should pray. We believe in a Sovereign God. But we must not make him out to be the author of sin (James 1:13). God knew the earthquake was coming (Isaiah 46:9-10), could have stopped it and didn’t, and as per Romans 8:28 will work this out like everything else for his glory and for the good of those who love him. He will also use it to awaken fear in hearts, so that the gospel can then bring peace and salvation (Luke 13:1-5). But that is a very different thing from making God the pleased creator of this event. Some assume that choosing not to stop something is the same as initiating that event. I do not believe that is so. We must not curse God, or charge him with wrongdoing (Job 1:22).  But we must pray and ask God to limit the pain these terrible events have caused, and to use them so that many might turn to him.
7. We should understand that suffering is in the world because of sin in a general sense. Death entered the world because of human sin. (Romans 5:12)  Because our forefather sinned, and because we go on sinning, the world has been subjected to a law of decay (Romans 8:20-24). We live in a fallen world. In a fallen world many things are broken and do not work as God intended them to originally. Thus humankind’s sin, rather than Japanese sin, is responsible for this disaster.
8. We must not assume that the devil “won” this time. God was not asleep. Satan is indeed described as the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4), and is therefore in some senses responsible for disasters. However, he does not have a free hand. He is prowling around seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). But, as in the case of Job, God is perfectly capable of preventing his actions, and does indeed put a limit on them. If Satan was free to do whatever he wanted in this world, we can rest assured there would be far more disaster than there is now. He is after all a murderer (John 8:44). We are right to be angry at the effects of all this death and destruction that he causes, but not right to ascribe to him more power than we ought! Anger is in short a natural response to such suffering, but should not be directed at God.
9. We should look forward to the day when there will be no more pain. The very fact that suffering feels so wrong should point us to the fact it was not part of God’s original plan, nor is it part of his glorious fulfillment. One day there will be no more sea to destroy lives and separate loved ones. (Revelation 21:3-4).  What a glorious day! We should long for it more and more as our TV sets bring such devastation into our living rooms.
10. We should share the glorious gospel of Jesus that brings us hope and work to relieve suffering.  The temporary nature of life should prompt us, if we have any compassion at all, to be looking for opportunities to talk about our Savior.  In addition, and as a vital part of our outreach, some of us should consider giving to the specific relief funds being set up to help Japan.  But all of us should look for ways to relieve suffering far from where we live, and also on our doorstep.  We are called to “remember the poor” (Galatians 2:10) and demonstrate the love of Jesus with the word of the gospel, and the deed of alleviating pain.  We cannot and should not turn aside like the good priest, but instead should spend ourselves as the good Samaritan did, all the time pointing to the One who, with limitless resources, gave himself that we might all live.

Once again the Doctor diagnoses the human condition with timeless pinpoint accuracy in this quote:

We are creatures of lust and desire and passion. Let me give you the best description ever given of humanity without Christ, humanity as it is by nature. In his epistle to Titus, Paul writes:

Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work, to speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, showing all meekness unto all men. For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.

— Titus 3:1–3

And is that not true of all of us by nature? Is that not true of our society? Behold those at a glittering party—how fond they all are of one another! But they have daggers in their hearts; they hate one another: “hateful, and hating one another.”

That is why the world is as it is—greed and avarice and envy and lust and passion and desire. It is in us all. Paul also describes this in the second half of Romans 1, and it is because of this that the world does not want Christ. “He spoils life,” people say. Christianity is seen as narrow, as contemptible, as something to be dealt with by sarcasm and ridicule and derision. It is a joke on your favorite television program. Christ is the spoiler of life, the one who introduces you to just a narrow, miserable, cramped little existence. Is that not the outlook?

There is only one explanation for such a view, and I say again that it has nothing to do with intellect; it is the state of the heart. It is the clever people who are leaders in vice at the present time. They have amazing ingenuity, but notice how they use it. They cater to the animal, and that which is even lower than the animal.”

David Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Glorious Christianity, 1st U.S. ed. (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2004), 129. Also available electronically from Logos Bible Software.

For more information on Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones see this summary post or the MLJ Recording Trust.

I want to introduce you to a very unusual book by Mark Driscoll and his writing buddy and professor, Gerry Breshears. I would go so far as to say that this is a unique book in that I have never seen anything quite like it.

If their first book together, Vintage Jesus, was a light cheerful book that offended some by its use of humor and at times edgy topics for illustrations, this new book by these two men is more of a grungy, almost dark book. The video over at the ReLit site leaves you in no doubt that this is a book that will wrestle with darkness, pain, and even demonization.

Certainly this book represents just a tiny sample of the ocean of pain that a pastor of a large church has to handle over the years. Some neoliberals argue that people who believe in penal substitutionary atonement do not engage with the real suffering found in the world. This book demonstrates emphatically that in Driscoll’s case this is simply not true. Such critics also argue that the evangelical’s gospel can become overly narrow, eventually focusing solely on the “felt need” of the feelings of guilt many still experience. Guilt, however, is far from the only reason people come to Christ. The New Testament is full of helpful ways we can understand what Jesus did on the cross.

Without in any way softening his commitment to the centrality of Jesus taking the punishment of sin in our understanding of the cross, Driscoll is far broader in his understanding of and application of the cross to hurting people’s lives today. From convicted child molesters, to cheating husbands and raped women, Driscoll shares pen outlines of the destruction manifest in the lives of specific people to whom he has ministered. He then shows in a letter written to each individual how a specific aspect of what Jesus has done on the cross can bring wholeness and salvation to them.

This is a vital book that should be read by every Christian who is serious about reaching out with the gospel into this dark and damaged world. I will share a video of Mark speaking about the book, followed by an excerpt from one of those letters that particularly struck me. You will have to buy the book to see exactly how Driscoll and Breshears apply the gospel to Bill and his violent, abusive father.

“As a little boy you rightly felt angry at your dad, and that anger rightly compelled you to confront his injustice and protect the rest of the family. Therefore, anger can be a righteous virtue, which explains why God gets angry at sin too. The Bible is full of examples of God getting angry at sinners. A few examples will illustrate my point clearly, but a reading of Leviticus 26:27-30, Numbers 11:1, and Deuteronomy 29:24 for starters, speak of God’s anger as being hostile, burning, and furious.

Flaccid church guys will often accept that in the Old Testament God did get angry, but they will say that Jesus was a nice, emotionless, flaccid church guy, just like them, who chose a hollow, fake smile over anger every day. But even Jesus got angry, furious, and enraged . . . [Here Driscoll cites Mark 3:5 and Revelation 19, but one could also add Matthew 21:12-13, Mark 11:15-17, Luke 19:45-46, and John 2:13-17.]

In speaking of God’s anger, I want to be careful not to give permission for us to lose our temper and rage, because that is a sin—the very sin your father committed repeatedly. However, because God is perfect, his anger is perfect and, as such, is aroused slowly (Exodus 34:6-8), sometimes turned away (Deuteronomy 13:17), often delayed (Isaiah 48:9), and frequently held back (Psalm 78:38).

Furthermore, God feels angry because God hates sin (Proverbs 6:16-19, Zechariah 8:17). Sadly, it is commonly said among Christians that “God hates the sin but loves the sinner.” This is as stupid as saying that God loves rapists and hates rape, as if rape and rapists were two entirely different entities that could be separated from one another. Furthermore, it was not a divinely inspired author of Scripture but the Hindu, Gandhi, who coined the phrase, “Love the sinner but hate the sin” . . .

Regarding God’s anger and hatred, it is commonly protested that God cannot hate anyone because he is love. But the Bible speaks of God’s anger, wrath, and fury more than of his love, grace, and mercy. Furthermore, it is precisely because God is love that he must hate evil and all who do evil—evil is an assault on whom and what he loves.

Therefore, Bill, your anger toward and hatred of your father are justifiable and are the healthy response to seeing your dad beat the mother and siblings you love. However, in a mysterious conflict of deep emotions, you continued to love your father just as God continues to love unrepentant sinners whom he simultaneously hates . . .

I know this will be difficult for you to comprehend, Bill, but Jesus has fully experienced what you have, and much more. Jesus was mocked and beaten, though he was without sin. He willingly substituted himself for those he loved and wanted to save . . . ”

From Death By Love by Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears, copyright 2008, pages 127-129. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crossway.com.

The Doctor was given his nickname, I believe, not so much because of his medical degree, but rather because of the way in which he used his diagnostic skill to get to the root of the human predicament. This quote is a good example of that:

To fail to control ourselves means a loss of energy. These things can actually be measured. When I say ‘self-control’ I include controlling one’s temper, controlling one’s spirit. Have you ever seen a man trembling in a rage? What energy that man is wasting! He is emitting energy at a tremendous rate because he cannot control his temper, and his own spirit. And, of course, he is but as putty in the hands of the devil. When a man cannot control himself how can he possibly deal with the enemy? Discipline is an absolute essential in an army; it is one of the most important things of all. If an army is not disciplined it is already defeated, it becomes a rabble.

The Bible has much of this kind of teaching. It is a major theme in the Book of Proverbs. The wise man in dealing with this matter says: ‘He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty’ (Proverbs 16:32). What he is saying is that a man who is slow to anger, a man who can control his temper, is a much stronger man in the end than a mighty man who loses his temper. The second man is much mightier by nature, but if he dissipates and wastes his energy by failing to control his own temper he will lose the battle. This first man has nothing like the vital force and capacity, nor the strength of the second, but he controls himself; and a man who can control himself will often beat a man who is very much better at the task, and who has much greater strength, simply because he is reliable and steady.

David Martyn Lloyd-Jones, The Christian Soldier: An Exposition of Ephesians 6:10 to 20 (Edinburgh; Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth Trust, 1977), 101. Also available electronically from Logos Bible Software.

NOTE
This photo of “the Doctor” is quite rare, according to Philip Eveson, principal of the London Theological Seminary, where this portrait hangs inside the Lloyd-Jones library. Although pastor of the Westminster Chapel in London for many years, the Doctor was originally born and raised in Wales, and he also pastored his first church in South Wales.

For more information on Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, see this summary post or the MLJ Recording Trust.

Anger is very much associated with our sense of rights. We feel that we have been violated and “deserve” better treatment. The truth is, none of us deserve anything but hell. We build up for ourselves a mental picture of our ideal life, of what we want, so that it becomes an idol. When we don’t get our own way, we start to throw our toys out of the pram and feel justified to be angry.

James challenges these thoughts in 4:1-2: “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel.” John Piper explains this further as follows:

Humility does not feel a right to better treatment than Jesus got . . . Humility does not build a life based on its perceived rights . . . Much of our anger and resentment in relationships comes from the expectation that we have a right to be treated well. But, as George Otis once said to a gathering in Manila, “Jesus never promised His disciples a fair fight.” We must assume mistreatment, and not be indignant when we get it. This is what humility would look like. Peter (1 Peter 2:21–23) and Paul (Romans 12:19) give us great moral assistance in this difficult task by reminding us that God will settle all accounts justly and that temporary injustice will not be swept under the rug of the universe. It will be dealt with—on the cross or in hell. We need not avenge ourselves. We can leave it to God.

John Piper, Brothers, We Are Not Professionals : A Plea to Pastors for Radical Ministry (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2002), 163. Also available electronically from Logos Bible Software.

These are notes from the sermon I preached at Jubilee last Sunday. They are shorter than usual, but I thought I’d share the outline with you anyway. You can listen to the sermon by downloading it or you can listen to it here:

I. HOW TO LIVE FOR THE FUTURE—Philippians 1:1-11

• Know Who You Are (verses 1-2)
  • A slave of the RISEN Jesus (NOT man) and saints—i.e. set apart and being cleansed.

  • Conduits of grace and peace.
• Know Where You Are Going (verse 6) BE SURE!

• Know Who You Are Going With — Long-term, heart-felt partnership (verses 5, 7, 8)

• Know What You Are Meant To Do On The Way
  1. Verse 5—“In the gospel,” i.e. live in the good of it and live for its progress, don’t just keep the chair warm! What do we do in its good …

  2. Verse 3—Thankfulness that comes from remembrance.

  3. Verse 4—Prayer that is joyful and full of anticipation.

  4. Verse 9—Abounding, growing love.

  5. Verse 9—Desire to study. We will spend eternity with . . .

  6. Verse 9-10—Resultant wisdom/discernment, i.e. the ability to lovingly apply to life the things we learn.

  7. ALL of this results in verses 10-11—Purity that honors God.

II. RESULTS OF LIVING FOR THE FINAL DAY (Philippians 1:12-17)

• Verse 12-14—Confidence that comes from knowing even tough times are for our good, e.g. prison making confident!

• Verse 14—Boldness to declare this wonderful news!

• Verse 15-17—Preoccupation with the advance of the gospel above all partisanship, etc.

• Verse 17-20—Rejoicing, eager expectation, hope, “full of courage”, honor to Christ.

• Verse 21-30—Glorious indifference to our own life and its sufferings. “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22) Let’s study to be prepared to die well.

CONCLUSION
Live a worthy life and fight for the gospel—“It’s all about Jesus!”

BACKGROUND QUOTES

“Hence we have a service which is not a matter of choice for the one who renders it, which he has to perform whether he likes or not, because he is subject as a slave to an alien will, to the will of his owner . . .

[The slave is one] who not only has no possibility of evading the tasks laid upon him, but who also has no right of personal choice, who must rather do what another will have done, and refrain from doing what another will not have done.”

Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Vols. 5-9, edited by Gerhard Friedrich. Vol. 10 compiled by Ronald Pitkin, Ed. Gerhard Kittel, Geoffrey William Bromiley, and Gerhard Friedrich, Electronic Ed., 2:261 (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1964-c1976).

“He is not merely putting up with his circumstances, he is going beyond that, he is exulting in his suffering. He is triumphant, he is jubilant. There is a marvellous element in this, he tells them, if they can but see it. This is characteristic New Testament teaching . . . Do not waste your tears on me or on my condition, says the Apostle.”

David Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Studies in Ephesians—The Unsearchable Riches of Christ, Chapter 3, p. 17 (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1972).

“Death was nothing to these apostles. They had already passed from death to life. Having passed from judgment to life in Him, they were not afraid of death. They knew where they were going—they were going “to be with Christ; which is far better” (Philippians 1:23).”

David Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Courageous Christianity, 1st U.S. ed., 173 (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2001).

It is now almost a week since I made the decision to stop comments here on the blog. In the next few days I will also be deleting all the old ones. I have to say that, so far, I have not missed them. It’s not so much that I don’t want interaction with my readers—that, in any case, continues in other ways. Rather, I’m glad that the immediacy of that interaction is less, and its constant demands on my time have abated. Having one less demand on my time is so welcome!

Previously I felt constantly under pressure to monitor the stream of comments coming into my inbox to determine which ones should be approved. Part of the nature of these comments was that the majority of them seemed to disagree with the original post. I think this is partly because those who read a post and like it are unlikely to say so in a comment. I know that I myself am more inclined to respond to something that I dislike online. It is this argumentative aspect of comments that has bothered me somewhat. I genuinely believe that, for me at least, removing comments is a way of taking a step away from being quarrelsome.

I came across the following verse this week which made me think that I have done the right thing—at least for me in my situation.

“So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.” (1 Timothy 2:22-26)

* * * * * * * *

If you miss making comments, you can always pop over to one of my reader’s blogs who has begun an interesting discussion on Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ views of guidance. He said to tell you that he would welcome your opinions! Or, you could go and read Alistair’s transcription of what Driscoll really said about God hating sinners and join in the conversation over there.

UPDATE
In response to this post Rick asks, “Are Blog Comments Unscriptural?” whilst Dave Warnock collects the posts from those who think I should not have stopped publishing comments.

I am thankful today. It may not be my holiday, we may not have anything even remotely like it here in the UK, but as I said last year, I am very glad of the reminder this American holiday represents.

I know that at times I still have a sinful tendency to focus on things that are not going the way I want them to rather than to be thankful for everything that has gone well. I know that even after all these years of growing as a Christian, there are times when self-pity, criticism of others, and ungratefulness rear their heads. I know that in the corner of my heart their lies an area as yet not cleaned by the grace that is washing me day-by-day and making me more like Jesus. That area stubbornly refuses to learn that I am not the center of the universe. Neither will it accept that minor inconveniences to me are not worth getting upset about. It must continually be reminded that if I just learned to actually be more sincerely thankful rather than merely mouthing the words “thank you” in a ritualistic manner, my world would actually be a better place. So apart from all the other reasons I have to give thanks, my own selfish interests would be better served!

The truth is, we all find it hard to say a simple “thank you.”

My dear readers, I do want to thank you today so much for your patience and ongoing interest in these voluminous and persistent writings of mine which threaten to encroach upon your coffee breaks on a daily basis! I do value the time you invest. I appreciate your interest in the matters that interest me. I am grateful to God for his grace, which has meant that some of you find that investment of time to be at times helpful to you.

* * * * *

One of the interesting things about blogging is the way it seems to go around in cycles. I suppose it’s partly because of the way blogging obviously reflects the rest of our lives. I know that, for me, my blog is just an extension of me. Many times my friends have to stop me when I’m talking to them and say, “Adrian, I’ve already read that on your blog!”

So it felt rather strange when I realized the odd coincidence that this Thanksgiving I’m again returning to a theme that was bubbling up in my thinking at the same time last year. This culminated in a post just days after Thanksgiving titled “Making a Minor Tweak to My Comments Policy.”

Interestingly, I had the same internal conflict then I find I have right now. On the one hand I was upset about some of the comments I received on the blog, and on the other hand I was thankful for many of the comments—”especially from those who disagree with me.” The real problem I face is that sometimes it’s really hard to decide which comments I am happy to publish and which ones I am not. It’s difficult to set any clear set of rules that can be understood by both me and you, my readers. Tone is in the eye of the beholder, as my recent debate with the Pyromaniacs clearly demonstrated.

Last December I realized that my earlier tweak had not been enough, so I made a major change in how I would deal with comments here. I now feel that the change I made last year is no longer adequate. It served me well this past year, but now it’s time for another radical change. My big problem moving forward is that, with all my other responsibilities, I am so busy that something has to give. I have decided that the time I spend making the often agonizing decision about whether or not to publish a comment (and which I probably sometimes get wrong) is going to have to be freed up.

So, at least for now, beginning today, I will no longer publish comments made on my blog posts.

What does this mean? Firstly, for the vast majority of you, it will make little or no difference. I know that only a tiny proportion of my readers even read the comments, let alone add to them. For some of you, though, this will be disappointing. Does this mean I am no longer interested in your feedback? Absolutely not! Does this mean I will stop reading e-mails sent to me? No! In fact, by freeing some time, it may even make it more likely that I can respond to an e-mail privately, or if appropriate and with the permission of my correspondent, on my blog itself.

I will still, as time permits, try to interact with those who disagree with me. I am not retreating into some kind of bunker! From time to time, I will also probably post a link here to such a post and answer it. I may even frequent the comment sections on other people’s blogs.

Why am I doing this? It’s mainly for my own sanity. It’s because I need to reclaim the time I currently devote to scratching my head in deciding whether or not to publish comments. I feel responsible for the words which appear here in the comments section. I obviously do not have any similar responsibility for what people might post elsewhere. I may well find myself quite happy to read even quite critical comments made elsewhere, whereas reading the very same words as a potential comment for publication here would make me anxious about whether or not I should accept it.

I am grateful for my interactions with you, my readers, which have helped me to understand so many things more clearly. It is therefore with some sadness that I now pull the plug on comments. Because of my current time pressures, it is better to stem the flow of comments now than to wait until I am engulfed in a major comment storm at some point in the future.

If you have made any comments you want to save for the future, please go in and copy/paste them, since at some point fairly soon I will be removing all the old comments also.

The following verse has influenced this decision, and I hope will continue to influence my blogging in these post-comment box days:

“The beginning of strife is like letting out water, so quit before the quarrel breaks out.” (Proverbs 17:14)

UPDATE
Not everyone is happy with my decision, as this post over at Peter’s blog demonstrates.

UPDATE
This sermon clip is making a stir in the blogosphere for all the right reasons—a great example of the typical reaction comes from Josh Harris.

In the beginning of the full sermon he extends this confession and repentance for his own pride.

So he begins the sermon by stating he is not qualified to preach on the subject, and that he felt his lack of humility had been a major failure of his time at Mars Hill. This is an amazing way to start a sermon!

He speaks of a time in his life last December when a season of great opposition led to a phone call from C. J. to encourage him to see it as an opportunity to exercise and grow in humility. I found the whole message very convicting.

The whole sermon is available in video and audio download or to listen here: