Harvey Turner is the church planter of Living Stones in Reno, NV and a fellow Re:Train grad. He recently posted on his blog some helpful Bible passages on church discipline as well as insights into how they are applied in the life of Living Stones. These are helpful for everyone, not just pastors, to read and meditate on.

Matthew 18:15-17

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.”

• This passage from Matthew 18 deals specifically with personal one-to-one instances of sin, but may be applied in other situations. Matthew 18: 15 to 17 contains a three step process for dealing with person-to-person conflict. Step one is to confront the person who has sinned against you and ask him to repent. If he does not repent after step one, move on to step two. Step two, take one or two other people, along with you to confront the individual about the sin against you and ask him to repent. If he does not repent after step two, move on to step three. Step three is to take the situation to the church. At Living Stones, this may be applied in one of two ways: either take it to your community group for confrontation (assuming you are in the same community group) or bring the sin and the situation to an elder who will bring it back to the elder board for a decision of how church discipline should be applied.

Why is church discipline not brought before the church as a whole?

Romans 16:17

“I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them.”

• Romans 16 is dealing with individuals in the congregation who engage in two specific types of sin. The first sin is the sin of division within the church. The second sin is the sin of false doctrine in the church. These individuals are to be avoided and reported to the elders of the church for follow-up and reconciliation.

1 Corinthians 5:1-13

• First Corinthians 5:1 to 13 (too long to quote here) details a situation in the church involving gross, unrepentant sexual immorality. The specific situation had to do with an individual having sex with his father’s wife. The apostolic exhortation is immediate removal from the congregation until such a time that the individual comes to repentance. This situation is an instance of immediate removal from the church and may be applied in extreme cases.

2 Thessalonians 3:6-7, 14-15

“Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you … .If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.

• 2 Thessalonians 3:6 to 7, and 14 to 15 give us a specific situation of church discipline and a timeless principle of church discipline. The situation involved disobedience to the apostolic (and now scriptural) command to work and provide for one’s family. The timeless principle to apply to modem church discipline at Living Stones is that if an individual blatantly disobeyed a scriptural command and persists in that disobedience after being urged to repent, the individual is to be disengaged that he may be ashamed. In the process, he is not to be regarded as an enemy, but continually warned as a brother. Persistence in a particular sin may require removal from the church for the purpose of repentance and restoration.

Titus 3:10-11

“As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.”

• Titus gives us a pattern of dealing with individuals in the church who stir up divisions. The individual is to be warned once and then twice and if there is no repentance the individual is to be removed from the congregation because of his potential to harm the church through division.

Hebrews 13:17

“Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.”

• Hebrews gives us the charge of leadership to carry out leading responsibilities which include church discipline and the congregational duty to obey and follow leadership. This exhortation is for the purpose of the leadership carrying out its duties with joy.

Galatians 6:1

“Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.”

• This scripture is instructive in church discipline in terms of the heart attitude and spiritual awareness that church discipline requires. An individual should be walking in the power of the Holy Spirit and carry out the church discipline with a spirit of gentleness. As a church discipline is carried out, the individual should be in a state of constant self-evaluation in regard to the many temptations that could accompany such work.

James 5:19-20

“My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.”

• James instructs us on the motivation behind church discipline. Church discipline should never be motivated out of anger, or pride, or woundedness, or self-righteousness, but rather to restore the individual to Christ and his people. The motive is love, the means is love, and the result is love that springs from the gospel.

Great thoughts from Josh Dix on developing leaders. I’ve included some highlights

What I see from Jesus

• is that leadership is not about getting more followers. The essence of discipleship is to produce more leaders.
• Jesus has a vision for what someone can become when they know him and discipleship is his leadership development tool.

Who did Jesus disciple?

• People who needed to know the one and true God.
• those who need an up close look at the ministry of Jesus because they are the future leaders of the church

Leadership development at the Journey

The process of growing your character, knowledge, and skills in the fruit of the Spirit for the purpose of leading the church.

What your best leadership development tool?

It’s you

• With God’s word in your heart and mind
• Doing the work of a missional church through discipling others.

Developing a leadership development play with:

• a name written down of someone who you can see God using for his glory and his mission.
• identify areas they can grow in their character,
• identify things they need to know to grow into maturity as a man and a Christian,
• identify ideas for how you can share the work of ministry with them to grow their leadership skills. 

Remember how Jesus thinks about leadership:

• It’s not about gaining followers, it’s about discipling more leaders.
• It’s dreaming of what people can become when they know him.
• It’s being kingdom minded…on a mission.  “Go.”
• It’s sharing the hard work of ministry.
• Helping others grow in your knowledge and heart as they work under the control of the Holy Spirit.

GCR refers to the Great Commission Resurgence, the Southern Baptist task force that is attempting to influence a huge denomination to be more missional and have more kingdom impact. Nathan Akin recently wrote about how the church he attends is a model GCR church. Here are some highlights.

First, my church strives after the glory of God in all things with a strong emphasis on the Scriptures and Gospel-Centrality.

This works itself out in a commitment to expository preaching

In addition, this has led us to a focus on discipleship

First, there is a membership process; this comes directly out of our belief in the Baptist distinctive of “Regenerate Church Membership.”

Next, members are integrated into a small group, which is the primary means of discipleship and community in our church.

Finally, in the context of Gospel-Centrality, there is a focus on being as diverse as the community around us.

Second, our church is adamant about the primacy of the local church

Shepherd’s Training

The elders invite these men that they have identified into the 2-year program; it is not open to everyone. He is then paired with an Elder or leader in the church, along with one other trainee. This leader focuses on personal development and maturity with him. In addition, there is a focus on accountability and the character necessary for an elder. He meets with this Elder/leader every other week to go through these things and to work through memorizing the Pastoral Epistles. In addition, he also meets every other week with all those in the program and all the trainers. Each “semester” during the 2-year cycle focuses on a different aspect of pastoral ministry and leadership. The every other week meeting focuses on the portion of the Pastoral Epistles that was to be memorized that week. One of the Elders then leads through an exposition of that passage and the other elders add thoughts on the passage as well. Next, all the trainees are required to read a book for the week, examples of books read are Baxter’s “The Reformed Pastor,” Dever’s “Nine Marks of a Healthy Church,” Spurgeon’s “Lectures to My Students,” and Bonheoffer’s “Life Together.” Each week, two of the trainees deliver an oral book review of the book for that week and then ask questions of the book that the elders answer and discuss. Finally, the night ends with one of the elders lecturing on an area of pastoral ministry and then discussion of that topic among the elders and trainees. The topics range from “why we employ small groups” to “regenerate church membership.” In addition, during the semester the trainees write two position papers on topics of interest in pastoral ministries. The topics of these papers are things like, view of spiritual gifts in ministry, use of alcohol in ministry, view of divorce and remarriage, and view of church government. Finally, each trainee is to work on a ministry project in some area of church life.  The goal is to lead to the training of future elders and church planters through life on life training. This is the best way to evaluate whether a man possess the qualifications of an Elder and if they are ready to take on a role such as that.

Finally, in the focus of church primacy, my home church does church planting and missions “in house.”

This focus on the primacy of the local church does not mean that my church does not seek to be aided by the convention structures, but it means that they do not farm out missions’ work or church planting to an outside organization.

Finally, how does my church focus on missional living?

First, there is a focus on the small groups being missional. They are all to carry out community projects in our “We Love North Raleigh” campaign

Second, as has been mentioned, we focus on missional living through church planting

In addition, the church has worked hard at overseas and cross-cultural missions

Having never made pastoral visits before, and having never been visited by a pastor, it’s kind of a black box with lots of unknowns. David Murray’s overview of a “normal” pastoral visit is really helpful.

First, I prepare for visitation with prayer. I take a few minutes or so to pray for the family I am about to visit. During that time I make sure I know the names of both the adults and the children, I remind myself of what each is doing in their lives, and I make a mental note of any special needs or concerns that we had previously talked about.

Second, for the first 15 minutes or so of the visit, I try to chat to the family about what’s going on in their lives: how’s the job, the kids, school, etc. If there was some important local or national issue we might talk about that as well. Obviously, this sometimes stretches quite a bit beyond 15 minutes. And sometimes it is difficult to change the topic to something more “spiritual.” However, I like to “break the ice” in this way. I don’t think this is pragmatic or manipulative. As a pastor, I am interested in the spiritual welfare of my flock above everything else; but I am also interested in every area of their lives. I enjoy hearing about their vacations, their jobs, their schools, their friends, etc. I enjoy seeing and savoring the different personalities and characters. Often, issues arise in these conversations which we could never have predicted, taking us into the Scriptures in a very natural way (I’m always looking for opportunities to relate God’s Word to the person’s world). Usually it just helps everyone to relax a bit and makes it easier to move into more directly “spiritual” issues. I agree with the old saying, “People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.”

Sometimes I find it helpful to share a bit from my own life and family. I try to show that I have a normal family life with all its joys, worries, and sorrows. Obviously you have to be careful here. You don’t want to “let it all hang out,” and you don’t want to spend too much time talking about yourself. However, some people find it easier to open up if the pastor himself is prepared to do so.

Third, the main aim of a pastoral visit is to have a conversation about spiritual matters. Sometimes that’s very easy, as mature Christians especially will be used to pastoral visits and will probably have some spiritual questions to ask, or some spiritual topics they want to talk about. But, for the sake of this post, let’s assume that you are visiting people who are not used to spiritual conversation. How do you guide the conversation to produce a profitable discussion? Until now, I’ve never sat down and thought about what questions I ask people. But I’ve tried below to list some questions that have been helpful. It’s important to ask these questions in a friendly and natural way, rather than in an accusatory or “clipboard” way. Sometimes I find it easier to direct some of these questions to the children initially, as they often talk much more freely about spiritual matters.

• Is there anything you would like me to pray for?
• What have you been reading in your Bible? Anything that’s helped you or puzzled you?
• What do you find difficult about reading the Bible?
• What do you feel burdened about in prayer?
• Is there anything you would like to hear a sermon on? Any verses you would like explained?
• Are there any sermons that you’ve found helpful… confusing… challenging?
• What did you think about the sermon on…?
• Would you say you are going forward spiritually, or backwards?
• Are you reading any good Christian books? Is there anything you want to share from it?
• Have you found any verses that are helping you to live life and prepare for eternity?
• What gifts do you think the Lord has given you? Do you feel the church is making most use of your gifts?
• How would you describe yourself: Unsaved, saved and sure of it, or not sure?
• Do you think much about death and life after death? Do you feel prepared for that? How are you preparing?
• What is your hope of heaven? What reason will you give for being admitted there?
• What do you think of Jesus Christ?
• What would you most like to change in your life?
• What is your greatest fear?
• Are you facing any difficult challenges?
• Is there any one thing that stops you from following Christ?
• Children, what have you been learning in Sunday School?
• Do you have any questions for me?

Maybe only one question will be required to start a profitable conversation. The ultimate aim is to find out where people are spiritually, and how you can help them either to be saved, to be sanctified, or to be of more service to the church.

Fourth, finishing the visit can sometimes be difficult, especially with older and lonely people who have lots of time on their hands. You need to keep good track of the time (with unnoticed glances at a watch or clock), especially if you have another visit arranged. I usually let people know when I arrive that I have to be somewhere else at a certain time. That helps to focus the visit a bit, and also avoids people thinking you are bored with them, when you eventually have to draw the visit to a close. You can always arrange to return, if necessary.

And even if you don’t have anywhere else to go, don’t overstay your welcome. If you start to detect cues that it’s time for you to go (people obviously looking at watches, some members of the family disappearing, longer silences, etc), then go!

But not without prayer and reading of the Bible.

During the course of the conversation you should be making mental notes of matters for prayer. And in the concluding prayer, try to gather up these various pieces of information and pray about each of them – even trivial matters raised by young children. Also, try to pick a relevant chapter of Scripture to read, a chapter that speaks to their needs. Try to show how prayer and Bible reading should impact ordinary life. Maybe ask the children questions about the passage?

Fifth, pray about the visit in the car on the way home or when you get home. Maybe take notes about anything you should follow up on with a note in your diary to phone again in a few weeks. Also, maybe think about how a sermon might be able to help that family.

While the subheading for the recent Christianity Today interview with Francis Chan is horrible (Francis Chan says we should stop trying to make people love Jesus, and learn to rely on prayer, elders, and the Holy Spirit instead. Really, he advocated that) the interview is amazing. Chan is consistently one of the most Holy Spirit-aware, Bible-integrating speakers that I listen to. He’s consistently comparing his life and the life of his church against what he reads in God’s Word and there’s little, if any, of his interpretation that I can argue with. Here are some questions and answers from the interview

Q: So the example of the elders and leadership is more important, even in a large church, than having the right programs or preaching?

Absolutely. That is 100 percent true. There are a lot of churches with leaders that aren’t living out their faith together, and they don’t have trust. Instead they’re trying to bring transformation by creating programs. That’s why you often hear of people who say, “I love church but once I got into the leadership, the inner workings, I was so disillusioned.” That’s a terrible indictment.

Q: How can we know if our ministry is being empowered by the Spirit?

Churches that are built through our effort rather than the Spirit’s will quickly collapse when we stop pushing and prodding people along.

Now we should push, prod, and persuade men, but I’ve learned to spend a lot more time praying and asking the Spirit to move and begging God to send forth laborers.

The more you look at Scripture, the more you realize that nothing happens unless God is behind it. Jesus is building his church. I just want to be a part of that. I’ll keep doing my work, but the fruit is up to him. We can only pray, “Please, please, please let us see your Spirit at work. May it be like a mighty wind that moves us.”

Q: Cornerstone is a megachurch by definition. Is the size of the church evidence that a “wave” of the Spirit is happening?

A large gathering where everyone is singing really loud is nice, but it’s not an indication that the Spirit is at work. We don’t see that biblically. If that’s success, then we’d be spending more money on better musicians and better worship leaders. But that’s not how our elder board measures success.

In God’s eyes success is people loving each other deeply, caring for one another, digging deep in each other’s lives, sharing their possessions, and sharing the gospel in their communities. Are they fully devoted followers of Jesus? Is there transformation happening? Do they see themselves as part of something bigger than themselves—a body with a mission larger than the individual?

Our job is not to keep as many people as possible. Our job is to make sure that we’re setting a biblical pattern.

Q: But you have had people get upset and leave.

Yeah, and it’s hard. But Jesus really didn’t have a problem with turning people off if they weren’t ready for the commitment. What I see in Scripture is that’s it’s all or nothing. We are called to die to ourselves; it’s complete death, surrender.

I tell people, “It’s great that you’re checking us out and learning, and I pray that you’ll come to understand that God is good and nothing compares to him. I hope at that point you’ll give your life to Jesus and follow him.”

The commitment to follow Jesus is like marriage. It’s a lifelong commitment for better or for worse. And if someone is not ready to make that commitment, then they shouldn’t get married.

Q: How do you respond when someone walks away because they’re not ready for the commitment?

We always have to check our own hearts and make sure we communicated with them in love. Early on when people first started to leave, there wasn’t a lot of love or compassion. We sort of considered it a victory that people walked away. There was some arrogance in us, and that breaks my heart. Even now it’s always hard when a person leaves. And so we rally around each other, encourage one another, and remind each other that this is going to happen but we’ve got to keep teaching it.

Q: Do you ever get accused of being pharisaical for calling people to such a high commitment?

Oh, absolutely. The comment I get is that we’re becoming a cult because we call people to make a commitment. We define cults as communities overly committed to a belief system. By that definition Jesus would have been leading a cult. So today Mormons are willing to ride their bikes around town, Jehovah’s Witnesses will knock on doors, but as Christians we don’t have to do anything. We’ve been taught a watered-down version of following Jesus for so long that people think it’s Christianity, but it’s not biblical.

I have to be honest and say there were so many times I wanted to quit, because it is really painful when friends leave and your loudest fans become your loudest critics. It does get lonely. And it’s hard when leaders who are with you start getting attacked. I get very defensive of my leaders because I love these guys. I don’t want people to think it’s easy to lead the church into greater depth and commitment. It stinks at times. But when you look back to the Word, you realize this is the way it’s got to be, and you have peace.

“We’ve been taught a watered-down version of following Jesus for so long that people think it’s Christianity, but it’s not biblical.” That line is hitting me hard right now. Am I really willing to follow Christ, knowing that it will require complete surrender to Him? Am I really willing to commit, come what may? I feel like some recent events (the twins, financial questions, etc) have put me in a position of needing to wholly depend on Christ and be completely committed. I’m not scared of what is to come. In face I’m really excited that God has called me to Himself through Chris tand that my whole life is an opportunity to give Him His due praise and glory.

One of the criticisms of the role of Senior Pastor is the lack of accountability. I think that’s why God intended the church to be lead by a plurality of elders, so that they can each be accountable to each other. Here is how the elders at Capital Hill Baptist do accountability as a team of elders:

One of the practices that our elder board has adopted is accountability with the entire elder board.  Once a month, one of the elders will be examined by the entire board and asked a variety of questions about his spiritual state, family life, work priorities, evangelism, etc.  We hope that by giving time to examining each other, we are looking out for one another.  We do this with only the most loving of intentions.

A few other notes:

• This practice should never preclude an elder from seeking 1 on 1 accountability with others.  We encourage all of the elders to be regularly seeking 1 on1 accountability relationships with elders or other brothers!
• We don’t allow visitors to watch this because of the very personal nature of the questions.
• We limit the time to about 25 minutes and then take a few minutes to pray for the life and ministry of the elder who has been examined.
• There is a high level of respect and trust among our elders for each other.  This type of examination is done in a very gracious and loving way.  It is never intended to allow for anger, fighting, disdain, shaming or revenge among our elders.

If there is no accountability among your elders, you might consider encouraging your elders to pursue 1 on 1 accountability and also accountability with entire elder board.

I daresay that no current Christian leader and writer has had as much impact on me as Mark Dever, Senior Pastor of Capital Hill Baptist Church. He loves the church and loves to serve her while calling churches to greater fidelity to God. His books have been illuminating, challenging, and foundational to my understanding of ecclesiology and church life. I can’t highly recommend them enough.

A number of years ago he and Capital Hill Baptist started 9Marks, which is “a ministry dedicated to equipping church leaders with a biblical vision and practical resources. Our goal is simple: churches that display the glory of God“. The nine marks that are needed in a healthy, biblical church are

1. Expositional Preaching.
2. Biblical Theology.
3. A Biblical Understanding of the Good News.
4. A Biblical Understanding of Conversion.
5. A Biblical Understanding of Evangelism.
6. Biblical Church Membership.
7. Biblical Church Discipline.
8. Biblical Discipleship and Growth.
9. Biblical Church Leadership

Recently 9Marks posted overview videos about each mark. You can watch them below, along with a video announcing a new collab between 9Marks and Lamp Mode Recordings, a lyrical theology record label. Who would have guessed a church where the preacher wears a suit each week would be the inspiration between a rap album?

Mark 1 – Expositional Preaching

Mark 2 – Biblical Theology

Mark 3 – A Biblical Understanding of the Good News

Mark 4 – A Biblical Understanding of Conversion

Mark 5 – A Biblical Understanding of Evangelism

Mark 6 – Biblical Church Membership

Mark 7 – Biblical Church Discipline

Mark 8 – Biblical Discipleship and Growth

Mark 9 – Biblical Church Leadership

And here’s the rap video announcement

Elders lead the church. The main Biblical passages about their qualifications are 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-10. Specifically, 1 Timothy 3:6 reads

He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil

Since an elder must not be a recent convert, it stands to reason that elders must be tested and examined. This something many churches do not do when they appoint as elders good speakers or good business vs. holy Christians. Some churches have an examination process for elder candidates. Some of my bros in my Re:Train cohort are going through elder training at Mars Hill Church and I think it’s a year-long process. Coram Deo in Omaha, Nebraska has a  “6-month course of study and discussion” towards becoming an elder that “culminates with the examination phase.” Here’s the description of that phase written by Lead Pastor/Elder Bob Thune.

• Written essays outlining spiritual history, practice of spiritual disciplines, theological influences, leadership strengths and weaknesses, and understanding/articulation of the gospel
• A 3-hour written exam testing Bible comprehension and pastoral wisdom. For example: “What is the significance of Colossians 1 and 2 to our understanding of Christology?” And: “How would you comfort and encourage a couple at Coram Deo who just miscarried 9 weeks into pregnancy? What biblical passages would you take them to?” And: “A non-Christian in your MC asserts that he is a pretty moral person and, to his knowledge, has never broken one of the Ten Commandments. What Scripture passages would you take him to in order to show him that sin does not consist merely in outward acts?”
• A full review of stewardship, budget, debt and family finances by the CD Financial Team
• An oral assessment that tests “on-the-spot” Bible knowledge, theological acuity, and pastoral discernment
• A husband/wife interview assessing family health, marriage and parenting practices, conflict resolution, etc.
• A major theological position paper interacting with some current topic in church life (Coram Deo’s current position papers on Poverty and on Divorce and Remarriage are the fruit of past elder examinations)

It’s our desire to raise up men who 1) meet the biblical qualifications for eldership in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 and 2) have the full faith and trust of the entire Coram Deo community. This examination phase is a key step toward that end. Please pray for the men who are in the midst of it right now. And pray that God will raise up many more!

I’m very grateful that Bob posted this. It’s an excellent model to follow as I look to plant and raise up elders. It’s also very close to the same material that my Acts 29 application included, which makes sense, since every elder should be qualified to plant a church.

I’ve been told by my Re:Train coach, Cliff Low, that the best use of my time is developing leaders. Much easier said than done, however. When developing leaders, you need a plan and you need to make it a priority. When planning, you should ask “What are the

1. Requirements from Scripture (For example, what do 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 say?)
2. Requirements from your Denomination or Network (For example, what does it mean to be an elder in a Presbyterian, Baptist, or an Acts 29 church?)
3. Requirements from your context and church (For example, what does it mean to be an elder at my church, at this time, this stage, this size, in this part of this specific city?)

Scott Thomas of the Acts 29 Network recently published a study guide that is very useful in training and raising up new leaders. Here’s an overview of the guide.

This study guide is an interactive curriculum of the book, Christian Beliefs: Twenty Basics Every Christian Should Know (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005) written by Wayne A. Grudem and edited by Elliot Grudem.

Christian Beliefs (160 pages) is a condensed version of Grudem’s book, Bible Doctrine (528 pages), and that itself is a condensed version of Grudem’s award-winning Systematic Theology (1,290 pages).* This guide is designed to introduce Christians to the core beliefs of Bible doctrine in preparation for church leadership or to help new Christians to distinguish truth from error. This guide can be used to prepare elders, deacons, small group leaders, Sunday School teachers and all those who want to learn more about maturing in their Christian faith and becoming equipped to give a gentle and respectful answer to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you (1 Peter 3:15). An instructor in a class or small group or in a one to one environment can facilitate the questions or it can be utilized as a self-study or as a tool to equip a family in Biblical doctrine.

Theological Clarity and Application seeks to preserve the contents of Grudem’s Christian Beliefs by using questions to stimulate further understanding and application. The participants in this curriculum would benefit by first reading each chapter in Christian Beliefs before answering questions. It is also highly recommended to have a respected study Bible and a copy of Grudem’s Systematic Theology available for reference.

Each chapter of this guide corresponds to the chapters in Christian Beliefs. At the end of each section, a prayer text and Scripture memory is included. Additionally, a reference to the corresponding chapters and supplementary readings in Grudem’s Systematic Theology are included as well as further readings by noted conservative scholars and authors who contribute to the specific topic covered in the chapter.

This material is not something that should be rushed through to complete. It is a refrigerated locker full of meat that must be eaten regularly and systematically one meal at a time, allowing ample time to chew and digest the information and ideally to savor with others. One can complete the study in 20 weeks by covering one chapter a week or complete it in 40 weeks (approximately one school year) by covering one chapter every two weeks. The latter allows for a deeper reading of the accompanying Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem.

You can download it here

• B&W Questions Only (63 pages),
• B&W Workbook (color cover) 91 pages,
• Color Questions Only
• Color Workbook

I realize this is old news, but it’s a great note from Grace Driscoll, wife of Mark Driscoll (Mars Hill Church) and daughter of a pastor, on why it’s a good thing that John Piper is taking a sabbatical.

I am thankful for the precedent and example that Dr. Piper and Noël are setting because:

1. It frees up wives and children to be priorities (1 Tim. 3:4; Eph. 5:28).
2. It allows the church and ministry to not be idols (1 Tim. 3:5).
3. It can give wives a new freedom to have this honest discussion with their husbands (I have seen many wives silenced or unsure of how to have this conversation when they have genuine concern) (Prov. 19:14).
4. It can give children a new freedom to have this honest discussion with their dads (I have seen so many kids of pastors feeling last on the list with the church at the top) (Prov. 17:6).
5. It urges us all to examine our priorities and make sure our Jesus, our marriage, and our children are the top three, in that order (1 Tim. 3:1–5).
6. It challenges the church to give their pastor the freedom to examine his own life and take a break if needed (Mark 2:27–28).
7. It challenges us to not idolize pastors or think of them as sinless, but rather see them as gifted, called men (under immense pressure) who need to be free to repent and be redeemed like the rest of the church members (Heb. 13:18).
8. It challenges wives to examine if they have enabled their pastors-husbands to become islands unto themselves (Gen. 2:18; Prov. 31:12).