Any thoughts?

Those are the questions we asked Kirk Wellum, Principal of the Toronto Baptist Seminary, to answer at this Monday's meeting of the Toronto Pastors Fellowship.

So go ahead, play the role of Kirk Wellum: Why don't you give me some of your answers and we'll see on Monday how closely they line up with Kirk's insights once the paper is presented on Monday.

Post from: Julian Freeman

You Play Kirk Wellum

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One of the great conversations we had in class this year was on the topic of the need to be preaching the Word of God rather than opinions or topics that may or may not relate to the revealed truth of the Word.

Over the course of the conversation, Dr Penhearow pointed out this pastoral bit of wisdom that I've thought about much ever since:

The needs of the congregation may in fact be different than even they think.

The point is this: Only God the Spirit, who searches hearts, knows our needs. Sometimes in the midst of our problems we think we know what we need; in reality, however, only God knows. If we, as pastors, try to interpret people's lives so as to determine what they 'need' to hear, we'll get it wrong.

If we can't discern the needs of our own heart, how can we hope to do just that for the congregation we don't know as well as ourselves?

If, however, we preach the God-inspired Word, then God will be faithful to address his people's needs. He knows them already and he has given the Word precisely to meet those needs. When we preach the Word of God, the Spirit of God will accomplish all the purposes of God in the people of God. 

As preachers, all we need to do is 'eat the scroll.' God will apply according to his grace and the needs of his people. There is no promise in Scripture that God will work through my thoughts according to his will; there are plenty of promises in Scripture that God will work through his Word. 

That's our hope as preachers--that God would work, because only he sees true needs.

Post from: Julian Freeman

Preaching the Word and People’s Needs

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Dr Goligher has two messages posted: (1) 'The Emergent Church: Reinventing Liberalism', and, (2) 'Preaching the Cross Today.'

Click here to see the list of messages.

Post from: Julian Freeman

Free Sermons to Download

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Below is the manuscript I had written out. It is close to what I actually said.

My name is Julian Freeman and I just finished my second year as a full-time student at TBS. I count it quite a privilege to be here tonight and to have the opportunity to speak to you about why I have chosen to study at TBS and why I continue to study at TBS. I do think it is somewhat unfair for them to give me such a broad, open-ended question, and then only give me a few minutes to talk about my reasons, but here is my best effort anyway.

The first thing that drew me to TBS was the doctrinal statement. I had an opportunity to do my undergraduate degree at a school where I had significant differences in doctrine with some of the professors. This was a benefit to me as it exposed me to many different viewpoints on many different issues. However, when it came time for me to do my graduate work, my work which would be preparation for pastoral ministry, I knew that I had to go to school where I would no longer have to second guess the ones teaching me, but would be able to receive the truth as it was taught emphatically from scriptures.

TBS plays an absolutely crucial role in the training of men for pastoral ministry in Canada, because to the best of my knowledge it is the only complementarian school in Canada and it is also one of the few schools which still emphasizes the doctrines of grace. In these crucial areas our school still stands firm, with the word of God as our authority.

Another key factor in my choosing of TBS was its location. I was born and raised in Toronto, and my church involvement before seminary was in Toronto as well. Attending seminary close to home has allowed me to maintain my closeness to my local congregation, and has allowed them to continue to play a crucial role in my personal and spiritual development as I prepare for ministry. There are simply no other seminaries in the area where a student can go to get a solid, biblical education in preparation for pastoral ministry. The only alternative is to go to the United States, be removed from our local churches and Canadian context, and perhaps never come back. Having a school like TBS here, in Canada, helps ensure that our guys stay here and continue to minister in our context--right where we need them.

The main reason why I have loved being at TBS, however, and what keeps me committed to the school is the professors themselves [men like the kerux, Kirk Wellum, and Michael Haykin]. Never have I once questioned their commitment to us as individuals, as brothers and sisters in Christ, and as those training for future ministry. The professors have always made themselves available for us to speak about what issues concern us, be they spiritual, doctrinal, or personal. Over and over again I have been amazed by the grace of God at work in these men that they so freely give of their time and their talents so sacrificially in order to benefit us and through us, to grow God's kingdom.

I am so thankful to our Lord for what he is doing in our midst at TBS: he has given young men like me who have sensed God's calling on our lives an opportunity to learn God's truths from God's word, as taught by godly professors who are concerned for God's glory in the growth of his kingdom. Please do continue to pray that God would continue to increase the work he is already doing amongst us at TBS.

Post from: Julian Freeman

TBS Principal’s Banquet

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For those of you who'd be interesting in seeing something a little bit fun, check this site out. Our Hebrew Prof recommended it.

Back to the grindstone for now...

Post from: Julian Freeman

It’s no excuse, but…

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Post from: Julian Freeman

Start of the School Year

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Gone (Again)

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One of his suggestions for how to stir up humility is simply to recall one's past sins. It is only possible for me to become proud and think more highly of myself than I ought when I forget what I ought to think of myself--namely, when I forget what I've done and what I deserve from a holy God.

Sometimes, however, instead of genuine humility, I find that meditating on past sins (or even present sinfulness) just produces feelings of guilt and regret. I think about wrong things that I've done and how horrible they were. Then I think about the ongoing consequences of things I've done (how I've made people feel or things that happen to others as a result of my sins) and it just gets worse.

The trouble of course is that my focus is on the wrong place. The thing which should create in me the deepest and truest humility is looking at the cross. Despite what I so often see, the worst consequence of my sin isn't the hurt feelings of other people--it is the death of the Son of God. As the hymnwriter put it:

"Thus while his death my sin displays in all its blackest hue..." 

The truth is that while the cross reveals grace and mercy, wrath and justice, it also reveals truth about me. Nowhere do I see the true end of all my sins and my sinful heart better than in the cross.

What is the cross? It is the place where the only one who was ever innocent, the only one who was ever truly pure, was beaten and mocked, whipped and murdered for me. Why? Because that's what my sins deserve.

But the hymnwriter didn't stop there...

"Thus while his death my sin displays in all its blackest hue,
Such is the mystery of grace, it seals my pardon too" 

This is the mystery of grace in the wonder of the cross. The only truly beautiful, truly innocent, truly perfect man to walk this earth in nothing but love became the victim of violent hatred--and I was the offender. But yet, in this--the greatest of all travesties, that God would be rejected by man--my pardon is sealed. It is complete. He accomplished it all.

In the cross I see the absolute depravity of my sin... the absolute godlessness of my soul left to its own power. If given my way, I would kill God. But here's the irony: in God's grace, my God was killed for me. What wonderful grace!

How can the recipient of such grace know anything but humility? How can pride find a place in any heart which has rightly evaluated the cross?

"Thus while his death my sin displays in all its blackest hue,
Such is the mystery of grace, it seals my pardon too.
With pleasing grief, and mournful joy, my spirit now is filled;
That I should such a life destroy... yet live by him I killed." 

Go figure: the answer to something in the Christian's life is to look more to the cross... who would've thought? No fancy programs, no insider-tricks... just look to the cross.

What does it mean that Christ died for me? It means my sin deserved death. If my sin doesn't deserve death, and Christ died, then we mock the cross and make God out to be a liar. The cross, then, was superfluous.

But if my sin was so deep that I would desire the death of God, and that I deserved the eternity of punishment Christ bore on my behalf, then I need to do some serious thinking about who and what I really am. This type of thinking can lead only to deepest despair for those outside of Christ. But it will lead to endless joy and deepest hope for those who have seen their burdens tumble to the sepulchre.

Post from: Julian Freeman

A Little More on Humility…

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Isn't it interesting how God weaves themes together in the things we're learning at given points in our life? At church my pastor has been preaching through Romans. In my biblical counselling course at school we've had to take a pretty in-depth look at Romans as well, along with Genesis 1-3.

Examining the ways of the heart of man and the origin of sin from those two books has been a fascinating study. Today I was reflecting on all that the Word of God has been teaching me and I couldn't help but take notice of the wisdom of God together with the depravity of man in a sad sort of irony.

God created man noble and 'very good.' The world was created for his enjoyment, and enjoy it he did! Moreover, he treasured the wife of his youth--the woman God created from him, to be for him--flesh of his own flesh. They were naked--completely exposed, vulnerable, shown for all that they truly were--and they felt no shame.

But you know the story... along comes that crafty old serpent to mess everything up. He tempts the humans by saying that what they were wasn't enough... they could be more. They should strive to know more and to be more. Though they had no sin or shame, he tempted them with pride, and they bought it.

They wanted to be what God was, to know what God knew... they had the commands of God, but thought, "We know better." That was pride, and it did them in.

But where did pride lead?

No sooner had they become sinners then they sought coverings for shame. Pride had led to shame. And when God came looking for them, they were hidden. Why? They had become sinners, and had become what they were never meant to be. Their pride had led to a fall, and the fall meant shame.

Ever since then humans have been shame-driven creatures. Ever wonder what stops us from really getting close to other humans? We're afraid they might get to know us. What stops us from confessing that we're sinners? We don't even want to admit to ourselves that we're as sinful as we are, nevermind confessing it to someone else, or to God.

So we help each other out in this journey of deception by telling each other that what we really need is 'self-confidence,' which is in reality a justified pride. 'Think good thoughts about yourself everyday,' we say. The 'little engine that could' is somehow seen as a positive role model. The basic premise of course, is that there is something good inside of me that I should believe in... but there's not. But we continually tell ourselves and each other that there is so that we can feel better about ourselves; we minimize the pain of our shame through pride.

Shame moves us to distract people from our real selves. We become someone we were never meant to be: we put on facades, we pretend we like things we don't, we hang out with people we don't like and we do things we never would, all so that no one will judge us for being who we really are, because we're ashamed of who we really are.

Shame moves us to ambition. We pursue things we don't want at costs higher than what we would like to pay just so we don't look worse than anyone else... we cover our shame with pride. 'Don't fall behind or someone may figure out that you don't measure up,' we tell ourselves.

Shame moves us to religion. All the world religions continue to insist that if we work hard to do good, and if we just live like the good people we really are, whatever creator-being there is will be good to us as well. That's pride... it's not an honest evaluation of what's in my heart. But that's the wisdom of this world; the 'wisdom' God saw, when he said 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.'

How is it that Adam's sin of pride led to shame for all mankind, only to have that shame end up resulting in pride? It pushes us further and further away from the God who said that he 'opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.'

In other words, acknowledge your shame. Say, 'Yeah, when I look inside my heart I see that I don't desire what God desires, I only want what I want.' Humble yourself before God and say, 'God, I'm not all you've made me to be and I need your grace to change my heart.' But that takes humility.

Remarkably, however, in the wisdom of God, that humility (the undoing of pride) is the first thing required for entrance into God's eternal kingdom. That's definitely not the 'wisdom' of man.

Post from: Julian Freeman

A Sad Sort of Irony

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