McCoy Family Update!

After 12+ years pastoring at Doxa Fellowship in Woodstock, Illinois, I've accepted a new job working for Ed Stetzer and his Mission Group. I'll be doing work as a Content Strategist for Mission Group to help develop resources to equip the Church for the mission. Molly and I, along with our four kids, are very excited about this new chapter of life and ministry.

Our plan, God-willing, is to stay in Woodstock for Jack's senior year and to move near Wheaton, Illinois soon after that. My last Sunday at Doxa is this Sunday, October 2nd.

Thanks for your prayers during our time at Doxa and we ask that you might ask God to help us through this transition, for our needs as we hope to stay local for a while longer for the good of our kids, and for our church as we leave.

Books on my Radar 8.15.14

The Good Book Company continues to show their seriousness about Scripture and Bible study with their God's Word For You series by adding 1 Samuel For You and Titus for You by Tim Chester. If you order soon, you get Chester's 1 Samuel and Titus bible study guides for each book free with purchase.

6 lesson Bible study guide free. 

Other books in the For You series...

• Galatians by Tim Keller
• Judges by Tim Keller
• Titus by Tim Chester
• Romans 1-7 by Tim Keller (WTS has at a nice discount right now)
• A list of future titles, authors, and timeline for release

Other books, new or new to me, that I've just picked up or started reading...

For the Glory of God (Kindle, WTS) by Daniel Block | I was able to sit in the original seminary class that my friend, Dr. Daniel Block, taught on Theology of Worship. This book is the fruit of years of teaching this class. I've been asking him for years about when he would write this book and wondering at the good this resource will do, and I'm glad it's finally in my hands. 

A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway | Certainly not new, but I'm reading through it and it's a delightful read.

Live (DVD/Handbook) by Rebecca Manley Pippert | The Good Book Company has sent me a copy of this DVD and handbook. It's for new believers and not-yet-believers. I haven't been able to check it out yet, but Tim Keller says, "These studies by Becky Pippert are clear and accessible, yet substantial and thoughtful explorations of how to be grounded and grow in Christian faith. They evidence years of experience working with people at all stages of belief and skepticism. I highly recommend them."

Can You Believe It's True?: Christian Apologetics in a Modern & Postmodern Era (WTS/Kindle) by John Feinberg | Just gifted this by Crossway and I'm excited about it. 

Evangelism (WTS/Kindle) by Mack Stiles | Always excited for new evangelism books and resources, and this one by Stiles under the 9 Marks name is one I've been wanting. After just a brief skim, I was excited to see Stiles POV on a few specific issues brought up in this book.

Lots-o-Links 7.19.13

5 Evangelism Tips at We Are Soma

Earlier this year God woke me up from my sleep and asked me questions about evangelism. Questions like, “How many people did you share the gospel with this past year? How many people did you invite to gatherings? Why?” It was one of those gracious conversations that made me realize I was not evangelizing primarily because of my selfishness. I am too selfish to regularly tell people the best news in the world. I felt relieved that this could change and I am growing in evangelism. Here are 5 things God is teaching me about evangelism

Stop Hate-Watching The Church

But these Internet communities too often aren’t about healing. Not really. They funnel all of these triggers into one place, providing an opportunity for us to direct all of our rage, anger, and malice at what we have deemed to be rightful and deserving targets. These places of supposed healing become places of malice and mockery.

A Public Statement Concerning Sexual Abuse in the Church of Jesus Christ

In the hope that a time is coming when Christian leaders respond to all sexual abuse with outrage and courage, we offer this confession and declare the Good News of Jesus on behalf of the abused, ignored and forgotten.

16 Ways I Blew My Marriage | When my wife tells me I should read something like this, I listen. We don't agree with everything, but it's pretty good.

I don’t have marriage advice to give, but I have plenty of “keep your marriage from ending” advice (two equivocally different things), and that might be almost as good.

Thornbury's Mission to Revive Carl F.H. Henry

“I want to make Carl Henry cool again,” Thornbury exclaims in the introduction. Given that we can recognize Henry’s thoughts almost everywhere we look these days, such an aspiration is not terribly ridiculous. I would love to see the book cover in many a coffeehouse in the coming days, and would love even more to see Henry himself return as a staple of theological conversations. He was a giant whose legacy deserves to be recovered. As the new president of the King’s College, Thornbury is well positioned to do just that.

Related articles

Engage The South Conference

Gregory Thornbury Named President of The King's College

New Books On The Shelf

I have a number of exciting new additions to my bookshelves...

• The End of Our Exploring: A Book About Questioning and the Confidence of Faith by Matthew Lee Anderson (Amazon & Kindle)
• The King In His Beauty: A Biblical Theology of the Old and New Testament by Tom Schreiner (WTS | Amazon & Kindle)
• Not By Sight: A Fresh Look at Old Stories of Walking By Faith by Jon Bloom (WTS | Amazon & Kindle)
• Old Testament Evangelistic Sermons by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (WTS)
• Kingdom Come: The Amillennial Alternative by Sam Storms (WTS | Amazon & Kindle)
• Covenantal Apologetics: Principles & Practice in Defense of Our Faith by K. Scott Oliphint (WTS | Amazon & Kindle)

Lots-o-Links 6.12.13

10 Reasons To Get Married & Have Kids Young

My list would look a little different than this, but Molly and I got married young, had kids young, and we love to encourage others to do the same. 

Tim Keller On How To Get Into Gospel Conversations

A video, but more importantly a nice outline of what Keller says.

Justin Taylor - On Writing Well

Go read more on Justin's four points:

1. Read Slowly
2. Read a lot
3. Write to think
4. Write and rewrite

Joshua Elsom | Open-Air Preaching

Joshua Elsom wrote a nice piece that you need to read: "Open-Air Preaching and the Missional Church." A blurb from the beginning...

The combining of the words ‘open-air’ with the word ‘preaching’ is likely to elicit a wide range of images and opinions in the mind of the person reading them. For some they bring to mind the great evangelists of the explosive revivals of the eighteenth century — Wesley, Whitefield, Tennent, and Edwards; or the prophets of the Old and New Testaments — Jeremiah, Isaiah, Peter, and Paul. While for others, these words conjure up negative images of angry street heralds, with sandwich boards strung over their shoulders, thundering down threatenings of heaven upon all who would wander unawares into their field of preaching. Whatever one happens to think about, few typically associate the practice of preaching in the public square with the missional church movement. Because the missional church places such a high priority on practicing evangelism in the context of ongoing discipleship — on mission and in community — the thought of preaching to strangers who are dissociated from church or discipling relationships may seem at first to be counterintuitive. It should not be.

Check out all my open-air preaching posts and quotes.

Evangelism: Prime the Pump

When I was in high school I worked in landscaping: trimming hedges, mowing lawns, planting trees, hooking up decorative fountains and surrounding it with decorative rock. It was hard work, but something I enjoyed as a young man. And it provided me with a killer tan.

The owner of the business lived on a farm that had a well. This wasn’t a bucket on a rope well; it was equipped with a pump. And if you’ve ever pumped water from a well you know that the pump never works right away. You have to “prime the pump” by cranking the lever a few times. A pump that hasn’t been used for a while is full of air from the pump down closer to water level. It takes a couple of pumps on the handle for the water to fill the tube that delivers it above ground. It’s those first couple of pumps that bring the water to ground level and to usefulness. 

As missionaries and evangelists for the supplier of living water, we have to prime the pump in our own hearts so that we are ready to tell all of our King. We need Gospel-readiness and Spirit-reliance right there at ground level. We need to battle with sin and push back against apathy. Evangelism is one of those things that takes God-confidence, courage, and risk. We need a heart that has been primed through dying to self, a reoriented life, a renewed mind, fixing our eyes on Jesus, filled with His Spirit, meditating on His Word, loving Him with all our strength. 

Too often we haven’t prayed as we should and wrestled with our fleeting emotions, doubts, and timidity. We haven’t developed a state of readiness and anticipation. We won’t dispense living water efficiently and effectively unless we prime the pump of our hearts, remembering who God is, what God has done, who we are, and what God has called us to do. We need daily motivation for Gospel-readiness.

When we drink from the stream of living water at the outset of our day, and throughout our day, we’ve already brought it to ground level and are ready to point others to it. We will not only find our thirst quenched, but we will be motivated by our own satisfaction in Jesus Christ to help others to quench their thirst. 

What do you do to prime the pump for evangelism? What resources do you use other than Scripture?

Keller | Questions for Sleepy or Nominal Christians

Helpful post today from Tim Keller on revival and the Spirit's work on sleepy and nominal Christians. Here's a teaser...

So how do you wake up sleepy Christians and convert nominal Christians? Let me give you what I would call my modernized American versions of the kinds of questions I would ask people if I was trying to get them to really think about whether or not they know Christ. These questions are adapted from The Experience Meeting by William Williams, based on the Welsh revivals during the Great Awakening. He would ask people to share about these types of questions in small group settings each week...

[...]

Have you been finding Scripture to be alive and active? Instead of just being a book, do you feel like Scripture is coming after you?

You are going to have to go to Tim Keller's blog to read the rest of the questions. This is an issue near and dear to me as I think there are few things more important for the American church than to work for the conversion of "Christians." You have to ask questions that will show them who they are, and who they aren't.

Tim Keller | The Insider & The Outcast

Dr. Timothy Keller's second installment in the eBook series, Encounters With Jesus, is out. Go download The Insider & The Outcast for $1.99. I just did. Also pick up the first installment: The Skeptical Student. These are coming out monthly.

About the Encounters With Jesus Series | "Those who met Jesus were often profoundly affected by their conversations with him. In his Encounters with Jesus series, Timothy Keller, pastor of New York’s Redeemer Presbyterian Church and New York Times bestselling author of The Reason for God, explores these conversations to show how they can still change our lives today." 

If you don't have it, I highly recommend the Kindle Paperwhite. Or you can download the book and read it for free on various Kindle apps for your computer, phone, or tablet.

Tim Keller | The Skeptical Student

Dr. Timothy Keller continues to add to his library helpful books, now in a new format. Check this announcement from the publisher, Dutton...

On December 4th, Dutton will release the first essay in a new e-book series by renowned pastor and New York Times bestselling author Timothy Keller. The series, entitled ENCOUNTERS WITH JESUS (December 4, 2012; $1.99), will feature ten installments, launching with The Skeptical Student.

The Skeptical Student is based on a series of talks Keller gave in Oxford, England to a campus group – most of them skeptics – earlier this year. During these talks, Keller explored the inspiring story of Nathaniel’s life-changing encounter in the Gospel of John. It has lessons for those who are skeptical themselves about Christianity and also for Christians who encounter skepticism from those who do not believe.

Timothy Keller is the pastor of New York’s Redeemer Presbyterian Church and the author of The Reason for God and the recently published Every Good Endeavor. The other titles in the ENCOUNTERS WITH JESUS series include:

• The Insider and the Outcast
• The Grieving Sisters
• The Wedding Party
• The First Christian

I doubt I'm the only one excited about this project. I've just received the first installment look forward to the rest. It should be a valuable resource for pastors, apologists & evangelists, and probably most of all to the everyday witness to Christ...those who love their neighbors.

The Secret of Whitefield's Success

The Secret of George Whitefield's Success, five points (via)...

1. Natural eloquence -- a gift from God - used by the power of God's Holy Spirit.
2. Fellowship with God -- Whitefield gives us a glimpse in his Journal of his walk with God. 'Early in the morning, at noonday, evening and midnight, nay, all day long, did the blessed Jesus visit and refresh my soul. At other times I would be overpowered with a sense of God's Infinite Majesty'.
3. Godliness -- 'Above all he was a great saint, and Wesley and others bore tribute to this during his life and his death. This was the ultimate secret of his preaching power' (Lloyd-Jones).
4. Concern for the lost and the conviction that sinners are in danger of an everlasting hell
5. Wholehearted commitment to God -- 'If ever a man burnt himself out in the service of God, it was Whitefield. He was tireless and relentless in his efforts to win souls. Throughout his life he enjoyed the presence of God in his preaching. Even on his last day in this world he preached, though he was very ill. He was a man whose sole desire was to preach Christ crucified' (Nigel Clifford, Christian Preachers, Bryntirion Press).

Read the rest of the article/short bio at Banner of Truth. Check out my George Whitefield Resources page.

Crosetto: What Evangelists Do

From "Empowering Evangelists: InterVarsity's Ignite Conference," Beau Crosetto taught a seminar about turning everyday conversations into spiritual ones. He discussed five things evangelists do (using Philip in Acts 8)...

1. They listen to the Holy Spirit and follow Him no matter the cost
2. They are willing to be put in awkward situations for the Lord
3. They are good listeners and find places of conversation
4. They are bold and speak up inside that awkward moment
5. People come to faith when they get involved.

Go read the rest of the post for more.

$2 Tuesdays | Good Book Company

More great $2 Tuesday deals from The Good Book Company this week. A couple gems...

• Christianity Explored Evangelistic Book
• The Cry of My Heart
• Ephesians: God's Big Plan for Christ's New People | Thabiti Anyabwile
• Preparing for Marriage (Leader's Guide)

Who Cares About Creationists? They Don't Know Anything

Another attempt at mass internet evangelism toward atheism via CNN & Richard Dawkins. We need to be aware...it's game on with this stuff. We need to beware not to react as mere culture warriors, but have answers for the hope that's within us. If you missed the Bill Nye video, it's worth checking out too.

Release the APE Website Is Running

Check out the new website of Beau Crosseto that includes other authors like JR Woodward (he posted on it today), James Choung, and others. What is Release the APE? I'm glad you asked...

Release the APE is all about activating the Apostolic, Prophetic, and Evangelistic vocations into the world. We are committed to telling real time APE stories, sharing thoughts that shape the APE, and encouraging believers to live into APE vocations so that all the potential for God movements can be unleashed everywhere.

You may know A.P.E.S.T. from Alan Hirsch's books & teaching. That's where the APE comes from. Who should read the blog? Here's their list

• If you have a deep passion for ministry but you never saw yourself as a traditional pastor and don’t desire to be one.
• If you are a pastor and love it, but want to engage further material about releasing catalytic leaders in and out of your church.
• If you love challenging the status quo in Jesus name.
• If you love starting things for God
• If you have a deep sense for justice (hello prophetic leaders)
• if you love seeing people come to faith (we will have lots of conversion stories)
• if you feel alone in your mission and need inspiration and community
• if you love the missional church movement
• if you believe that the mission of God should and can be carried out by every day ordinary people.
• if you are crazy about seeing that happen too 
• If you want mentors and friends who will push you to risk, try, and do things in Jesus name you thought you never could do!

I align with several camps: I'm baptist. I'm reformed. I'm missional. Etc. This looks like a good site for the missional camp to engage, so I'll be reading. Would love to know what you think about their site as the first couple of posts have gone up: "Release the Apostolic, Prophetic, Evangelistic" Part 1 & Part 2. Also check them out on Twitter, Facebook.

Tim Keller: "Losing My Religion" Open Forum

If you want to listen to what Tim Keller does when he holds Open Forums for non-Christians, skeptics, seekers, etc...listen to "Losing My Religion: Why Christians Should Drop Their Religion." Redeemer has audio from 44 Open Forums, though I haven't checked if audio for others is offered free like this one. MP3s are typically $2.50, but this one is free.

I listened today. Instructive for us as missionaries and preachers, evangelists and apologists, disciples and strugglers with religiosity. He confronts religion, truths, psychology, philosophy, and truth-claims respectfully, yet still directly. 

How can we as pastors and ministers speak to our city, our culture, with intellect, wisdom, courage, and charity? Keller's example helps me, and I hope it will help you too.

Speak Dramatically...Because It's Real

John Piper on George Whitefield and his dramatic preaching...

But the question is: Why was Whitefield “acting”? Why was he so full of action and drama? Was he, as Stout claims, “plying a religious trade”? Pursuing “spiritual fame”? Craving “respect and power”? Driven by “egotism”? Putting on “performances” and “integrating religious discourse into the emerging language of consumption”?

I think the most penetrating answer comes from something Whitefield himself said about acting in a sermon in London. In fact, I think it’s a key to understand the power of his preaching—and all preaching. James Lockington was present at this sermon and recorded this verbatim. Whitefield is speaking.

“I’ll tell you a story. The Archbishop of Canterbury in the year 1675 was acquainted with Mr. Butterton the [actor]. One day the Archbishop . . . said to Butterton . . . ‘pray inform me Mr. Butterton, what is the reason you actors on stage can affect your congregations with speaking of things imaginary, as if they were real, while we in church speak of things real, which our congregations only receive as if they were imaginary?’ ‘Why my Lord,’ says Butterton, ‘the reason is very plain. We actors on stage speak of things imaginary, as if they were real and you in the pulpit speak of things real as if they were imaginary.’”

“Therefore,” added Whitefield, ‘I will bawl [shout loudly], I will not be a velvet-mouthed preacher.”

This means that there are three ways to speak. First, you can speak of an unreal, imaginary world as if it were real—that is what actors do in a play. Second, you can speak about a real world as if it were unreal—that is what half-hearted pastors do when they preach about glorious things in a way that says they are not as terrifying and wonderful as they are. And third is: You can speak about a real spiritual world as if it were wonderfully, terrifyingly, magnificently real (because it is).

Read or hear John Piper's entire bio of George Whitefield from the 2009 Desiring God Pastors' Conference.

$2 Tuesdays | Workers for the Harvest Field

The Good Book Company has started $2 Tuesday deals. Check out all 5 $2 deals, including Bible studies, helps for preachers, and more. The one I'm most curious about is a book called Workers For The Harvest Field. Here's a description. Note the chapters and authors. Good stuff!

The Lord Jesus saw a vast harvest waiting to be gathered in but hardly any workers to do the job. So he issued an instruction to his followers: 'Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field' (Matthew 9:38).

That command still applies today. Although 2000 years of Christian witness have past, there are still millions in our world who have never even heard the name of Christ. Even in countries where many profess to be Christians there is great ignorance, and a spiritual great hunger - which only the Gospel of Christ can answer.

This book is an attempt to describe the nature of gospel ministry and to answer the questions that those who are considering it may have. The aim is not to persuade everyone that they should give up their present jobs and offer themselves as workers to churches and missionary organizations. We all have different gifts. But we should all be asking ourselves this question: 'What is it that I could do that would most bring glory to God through the spread of the gospel?' For some that will mean staying where they are, for others it will mean a significant change of direction.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Introduction (Vaughan Roberts)
• Section 1: What is gospel ministry?
• 1. What is Gospel Ministry? (Vaughan Roberts)
• 2. The Character of Gospel Ministry (David Jackman)
• 3. The Priority of Gospel Ministry (Richard Coekin)
• Section 2: Varieties of gospel ministry
• 4. The pastor-teacher (Andy Gemmill)
• 5. The realities of being an evangelist (Roger Carswell)
• 6. Church planters for the harvest field (Tim Chester)
• 7. Gospel ministry overseas (Andy Lines)
• 8. Cross-cultural ministry in the UK (Andrew Raynes)

Go pick up Workers For The Harvest Field or another $2 Tuesdays deal.

While I Was Away...

I was very isolated from my laptop on vacation (which lasted 2 weeks), but I did find stuff that looked interesting on my feed reader and my Twitter feed and then saved them for later. Here are a few things that caught my eye...

• Tim Keller: 4 Wrong Answers To The Question "Why Me?" | In Defense of Apologetics
• David Murray: Spiritual Strength Training Pt 1 | Pt 2: 7 R's of Soul Care & Maintenance
• Seth McBee wouldn't quit talking about this book (kindle edition) & wrote The Neighborhood Mission Start Up
• Joe Thorn: Plant Midwest
• Matt Smethurst: Unbelievable Gospel: A Conversation With Jonathan Dodson
• Christianity Today gives Wayfarer: The River 4/5 stars
• Joe Gorra: Evangelism & God's Presence (a review of The Sacrament of Evangelism)
• Chris Lagerlof: Rethinking Evangelism

Keller: It Takes Faith to Doubt

From Tim Keller, part 2 of his posts on how the Gospel changes our apologetics...

...a gospel-shaped apologetic starts not with telling people what to believe, but by showing them their real problem. In this case we are showing secular people that they have less warrant for their faith assumptions than we do for ours. We need to show that it takes faith even to doubt.

[...]

There is a way of telling the gospel that makes people say, “I don’t believe it’s true, but I wish it were.” You have to get to the beauty of it, and then go back to the reasons for it. Only then, when you show that it takes more faith to doubt it than to believe it; when the things you see out there in the world are better explained by the Christian account of things than the secular account of things; and when they experience a community in which they actually do see Christianity embodied, in healthy Christian lives and solid Christian community, that many will believe.

Read all of How the Gospel Changes Our Apologetics, Part 2 (Part 1)