Archives For D.A. Carson

Pastors: An Idea for your next Sermon Series

Erik Raymond —  February 12, 2013

ezra nehemiah emmaus bible church

Preachers love to preach. We love to dive down deep, mining God’s Word for glorious, eternal treasures and then to swim back up to the service, sharing them with our church each week. But sometimes we get a little preacher’s cramp in so far as what to preach next. After preaching through Ezra and Nehemiah, I am thoroughly convinced that pastors, in particular church planting pastors, should prayerfully consider preaching through these books.

Here are some reasons…

New Beginnings: Ezra starts out with the people of God in Babylon. Within a verse or two God is strirring the heart of a pagan King (Cyrus) to send his people back to Israel to rebuild the temple and reestablish the covenant community. It is time for a new day. In particulur for a church plant this helps to show how God works in people and communities to build something new.

Idolatry: The books are repleat with examples of what idolatry is. Everywhere from the neglegence of the weak in Nehemiah 8 to the ignorance of the Sabbath in order to make wine in Nehemiah 13, God shows how the elevation of good things to ultimate things is actually a replacement of what is ultimate, namely the worship and adoration of the Lord God. This primes the pump for a crucial discussion on idolatry.

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The Measure of His Torment is the Measure of What We Deserved

Erik Raymond —  June 19, 2012

Biblically faithful Christianity does not present itself as a nice religious structure that makes happier parents and well-ordered children and good taxpaying citizens. It may produce better parents and taxpaying citizens, but the issues at stake in biblical Christianity have to do with eternity: heaven and hell, matters of the utmost significance, your relationship to your Maker, what God has provided in Christ, what the cross is about, the resurrection.

At the end of the day, what hell measures is how much Christ paid for those who escape hell. The measure of his torment (in ways I do not pretend to begin to understand) as the God-man is the measure of torment that we deserve and he bore. And if you see that and believe it, you will find it difficult to contemplate the cross for very long without tears.

–D.A. Carson The God who is There (Amazon -  Westminster)

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Listening and Learning from Dr D.A. Carson

Byron Yawn —  February 16, 2012

During our most recent ReNew Conference I was able to commandeer Dr. D.A. Carson in between sessions. A selfish little request made possible by our conference director. A request I make every time he’s with us. I am never disappointed in these moments and he is always graciously and sincerely obliging. So much was running through my hard drive afterwards I though I’d better write some of it down. Here are some takeaways.

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Review- The Pastor as Scholar and The Scholar as Pastor

Erik Raymond —  July 1, 2011

When I think about contemporary evangelical leaders and their impact on the church I can scarcely think of two more prominent figures than D.A. Carson and John Piper. Both have a multi-generational, expanding swath of reach. They seem to be getting better and stronger with age.

For me personally, I can sometimes hear these men over my shoulder banging the drum of the beauty and supremacy of Jesus and his gospel. I love that about them.

This is why it is always interesting to hear them talk. In this occassion they are talking about the roles of pastor and scholar. In particular the way the pastor should be a scholar and the scholar a pastor. The book here puts in print an evening with Carson and Piper following the 2009 Gospel Coalition Conference in Chicago. I was in attendence that night and listened carefully as Drs Piper and Carson talked about their respective paths in ministry. It was encouraging, refreshing and interesting.

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Carson: Is there a central message throughout all 66 unique books of the Bible?

Erik Raymond —  January 26, 2011

I love this video from Dr DA Carson. It is so helpful and clear. I praise God for men like this who help boneheads like me to be more clear.

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The Measure of His Torment is the Measure of What We Deserved

Erik Raymond —  November 23, 2010

Biblically faithful Christianity does not present itself as a nice religious structure that makes happier parents and well-ordered children and good taxpaying citizens. It may produce better parents and taxpaying citizens, but the issues at stake in biblical Christianity have to do with eternity: heaven and hell, matters of the utmost significance, your relationship to your Maker, what God has provided in Christ, what the cross is about, the resurrection.

At the end of the day, what hell measures is how much Christ paid for those who escape hell. The measure of his torment (in ways I do not pretend to begin to understand) as the God-man is the measure of torment that we deserve and he bore. And if you see that and believe it, you will find it difficult to contemplate the cross for very long without tears.

–D.A. Carson The God who is There (Amazon -  Westminster)

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Retiring Irish Calvinist but Introducing ‘Ordinary Pastor’

Erik Raymond —  November 20, 2010

Blogging is a strange thing. You write your thoughts down. Sometimes people read them. Sometimes people comment. Sometimes people email you. Over time, if you have struck a chord, you get some traction. More people are reading, commenting, linking, emailing, etc. The blog grows.

A LITTLE HISTORY
I was largely unaware of this whole process back in early 2006. My senior pastor and boss told me to write. So I did. He also told me to impact people with the gospel. And so I tried to. I would meet with guys and talk about what I was learning in the Scriptures. We would talk about the gospel and how we need to be more impressed with Jesus. I repeated myself often to these guys. They seemed to like it. So, in listening to Pat (my boss, mentor, & senior pastor) I wrote. My goal was to encourage these guys. I picked a funny moniker for the site, “Irish Calvinist”. This is funny because I am not from Ireland. I am from Massachusetts. In fact it is only my father’s side that is Irish (my mom is Polish—but, the jokes would be just too easy there).

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