Upcoming Changes to the Blog

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Dear Readers of Looks Like Reign,

I want to thank you for reading our blog. Than you as well to those of you who have followed us and have interacted with us by contributing your thoughts and comments. As I’m sure you have noticed, blog posts during the last few months have been few and far between. Due to busy schedules and life transitions we have not been able to post as frequently as we would like, and we have had to reduce the number of regular contributors.

Consequently, we have decided to put the blog on hold at this time. While there may be a few posts now and then, we will not be actively blogging at Looks Like Reign during the next few months. During this time we will be thinking about changes to the blog and possible new directions in which to take it. Once again, thank you for following and contributing. We look forward to picking it back up at the end of the Summer!

In Christ,

Winston

Long-Suffering: An Invincible Weapon

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Posted by Winston

 

Long-suffering. This is the root of all self-denial. Wherefore also a certain wise man said, “A man that is long-suffering is of great understanding; but he that is hasty of spirit is mightily foolish.”

And comparing it too with a strong city, he said that it is more secure than that. For it is both an invincible weapon and a sort of impregnable tower, easily beating off all annoyances. And as a spark falling into the deep doth it no injury, but is itself easily quenched: so upon a long-suffering soul whatever unexpected thing falls, this indeed speedily vanishes, but the soul it disturbs not: for of a truth there is nothing so impenetrable as long-suffering. You may talk of armies, money, horses, walls, arms, or any thing else whatsoever; you will name nothing like long-suffering. For he that is encompassed with those, oftentimes, being overcome by anger, is upset like a worthless child, and fills all with confusion and tempest: but this man, settled as it were in a harbor, enjoys a profound calm. Though thou surround him with loss, thou hast not moved the rock; though thou bring insult upon him, thou hast not shaken the tower: and though thou bruise him with stripes, thou hast not wounded the adamant.

                        ~ St. Chrysostom (Homilies on 1 Corinthians)

Pray Without Ceasing

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Posted by Winston

In the context of a wedding charge, Peter Leithart highlights the relationship between faith and prayer:

The promises you’ll make in a moment are utterly open-ended.  You can’t be sure what will happen later today, much less for the rest of your life.  You can take these vows confidently only if you entrust yourselves to the God who is Alpha and Omega, the God who is before every past and waiting ahead of every future.

To live by faith is to live by prayer. Every time you pray, you confess that you don’t have what it takes, and that God does. You confess that you can’t see what’s ahead, and that God can.  Every prayer is a confession of inadequacy and need.  Since we are needy for everything at every moment, prayer should be as regular as breath.

As you commit yourselves to one another, commit also to continue steadfast in prayer.  Pray to be a faithful husband, a faithful wife. Pray for generosity in plenty, contentment in want. Commit yourselves to pray in joy and in sorrow, in sickness and health. Pray in life, and in the hour of death.  Drench, drown, immerse and inundate your marriage with prayer.

Pray as often as you have need.  Which is to say, Pray without ceasing.

The Prayer of a Seminarian

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Posted by Winston

Trevin Wax shares a prayer that he wrote from his seminary days:

Savior and King,
I find it so easy to revel in knowledge for knowledge’s sake,
avoiding the goal of instruction: to learn love.
A puffed-up mind may be able to hide an impure heart,
an aching conscience
or insincere motives from others,
but before you, all is laid bare.
The purpose of my training is to grow in love and faithfulness,
purity and authenticity.
Help me, O Lord, to keep in mind your purposes
for the instruction I receive.
I pray that when I leave here,
my love will have grown,
many sinful habits will have been left behind,
and any insincere motivations or spiritual facade will have been shattered.
May you work in my heart to draw me closer to yourself.
Help me to love, O Lord.
Give me a heart that breaks
for those held in the chains of sin.
Clear my conscience
and authenticate my faith.
May the knowledge I obtain be for your glory
and for the growth of your love in my all-too-hardened heart.
And help conform me to the image of Christ, in whose name I pray. Amen.

The Need for Pastor-Theologians

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Posted by Andrew

Douglas Sweeney discusses the need for pastor-theologians in the church today:

Indeed, as anyone who teaches in our churches can attest, few today know the Ten Commandments (I mean all ten, in proper order), the twelve apostles, the letters of Paul, or even the titles of the books included within the biblical canon. A basic grasp of Bible doctrine is also hard to find today. How many Christians do you know who can articulate what Scripture teaches about our Lord’s two natures, the ministry of the Spirit, or the nature of the church? Even first-year seminarians have trouble with these things.

The church wants education and needs theological leaders. In this day when many pastors lead non-theologically, and academics work in a way that is lost on the people of God, we need pastor-theologians who can minister the Word in ways that edify the saints and offer a winsome public witness to the goodness, truth, and beauty of the Lord and his will for us.

You can read the rest of the article here.

John Broadus on Preaching

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Posted by Andrew

Enjoy this quote on preaching from John Broadus of Southern Seminary in years past:

It is so easy and pleasant for men of fertile fancy to break away from laborious study of phraseology and connection, to cease plodding along the rough and homely paths of earth, and sport, free and rejoicing, in the open heaven; the people are so charmed by ingenious novelties, so carried away with imaginative flights, so delighted to find everywhere types of Christ and likenesses to the spiritual life; it is so common to think that whatever kindles the imagination and touches the heart must be good preaching, and so easy to insist that the doctrines of the sermon are in themselves true and Scriptural, though they be not actually taught in the text, – that preachers often lose sight of their fundamental and inexcusable error, of saying that a passage of God’s Word means what it does not mean. So independent too one may feel; so original he may think himself. Commentaries, he can sneer at them all; other preachers, he has little need of comparing views with them. No need of anything but the resources of his own imagination, for such preaching is too often only building castles in the air.

Mad Moms and Patronizing Pundits

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Posted by Daisy 

Have you heard about the “mom-culture war” on Twitter? It was recently sparked by some comments from Democratic pundit Hilary Rosen regarding Ann Romney, a stay-at-home-mom and wife of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. While discussing Mitt Romney’s economic policies, Rosen mentioned that he often asks his wife what she thinks concerning American women when it comes to economics. In critique, Rosen said something about how Ann has “never worked a day in her life.” As you can imagine, this did not go over well. Twitter was ablaze with responses of all shapes and sizes, including one tweet from Ann Romney herself.

Hillary Rodham Clinton made a similar comment in the 90’s about stay-at-home-moms, suggesting that instead of becoming a lawyer she “could have stayed at home and baked cookies.” These kinds of sentiments are disappointing to say the least and I would suggest they stem from an attitude cultivated in the women’s liberation movement that began in the 60’s, a movement which has heavily impacted our culture. Although there are certainly a number of different types of feminists with varying agendas (some sensible in certain ways and others not so much), the feminist movement as a whole sought to throw off the “roles” of women, arguing that men and women can do all things equally and should be allowed to do so (the biological barriers to this seem obvious to me, but what do I know, I am not a political pundit or scientist). Continue reading →

Resource: Secret Church Material

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Posted by Andrew

Well-known pastor and author David Platt has taken the evangelical world on a journey with his church as they seek to radically demonstrate the gospel in their community and around the world. His popular “Secret Church” events have opened the eyes of many believers to the reality of persecution for most of the world’s Christians. For those of you who haven’t had an opportunity to attend one of these events or participate in a simulcast, you may not be aware that you can access audio, video, and notes from each session for free from the Secret Church website here. I would encourage you to check it out!

“I only believe what I can see”…and Other Silly Statements

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Posted by Zach

Something that we Americans assume without much question is that we should only believe what we can experience with our senses, especially sight. This comes from the philosophical traditions of empiricism and pragmatism and is imbedded into us unconsciously from an early age. Now, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t trust your senses. Please don’t here me say that. One of the ways the disciples knew that Jesus is Lord is because they saw him after his resurrection. What I am attacking are those people who refuse to believe in anything they cannot see and take their senses to be the standard of what they know. Here are the problems with that:

1. If you only believe what you can see you run into a problem when your eyes constantly deceive you. Anyone who has ever seen a mirage, looked into a mirror in a fun house, or thought they saw something in the distance that turned out to look different up-close can testify to the fact that, although your senses may be accurate sometimes, they are not accurate all the time. Sticking your hand in hot water feels cold at first and then feels hot. This is another example of your senses deceiving you. Senses fail. You need something more to find truth. Continue reading →

Unwelcome Calisthenics

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Posted by Daisy

I would like to suggest that Moses and Aaron had superior cardiovascular systems thanks to the frequent disobedience of the children of Israel. This may not seem like a very serious topic yet, and you may think it doesn’t apply to you as well, but I hope to prove otherwise.

Let’s begin with the recounting of the interaction between the people of Israel and the spies that returned from the land of Canaan. Because of the size of the people in the land and their military prowess (translate as distrust of God) the Israelites refused to enter the land God had promised them. The people began to lift up their voices, weep, and complain saying,

Why has the Lord brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt? So they said to one another, Let us select a leader and return to Egypt.

What follows seems to be an ongoing exercise routine when responding to the rebellion of the Israelites, on the part of Moses and Aaron: Continue reading →