"Honor such men..."
On friday nights we've been going step by step through the book of Philippians, and this last friday night we finished the second chapter, so we're half way there! well, as we were going through i ran across something that I hadn't noticed before.
This last friday night we talked about the examples of Timothy and Epaphroditus (which one of the kids thought was a sickness, not a person). And at the end of the passage that talks about Epaphroditus, Paul writes a little like "so receive him in teh Lord with all joy, and honor such men." of course that got me going about how stupid celebrities are and how we honor the wrong people today. but instead of making this all into a negative, i thought, 'why not get a list of people that we should honor?' so who are the people that you think we should honor? Who are the people that have lived selfless lives, in humility in the best interest of others? This isn't about glorifying man, just about making sure we honor the right people.
Here's part of my list:
Derek Webb- a man that has stood for truth through music, has said things that aren't popular with a lot of people, and has lived it out. i honor him for spurring many on to worship through thoughtful praise.
The leadership of my church- for putting the Word first and doing the right thing and making the right decisions
my mom- for showing me what a life committed to learning and glorifying the Lord your God with all your mind.
Peter Jennings- for being a self taught person
men like MacArthur, Sproul, Mohler, and Mark Dever for standing firmly on the Word of God.
John Piper for stirring up the hearts of millions to a sincere passion of God and living it out. this guy wore the same suit three days and drives an old clunker of a car.
camp speakers like Darrin McWatters for actually being good. there are few of them.
david ortiz- for being the MAN (sorry, had to put that in there)
Bach- for living out his faith and publicly saying things like, "the purpose of music is to glorify God" (although it may have been easier to do that then)
for the countless missionaries who go on through their lives without any notice, giving themselves up day by day.
this is a short list, and its missing a lot of people. who should be added?
posted by Tim Costine @ 9:57 AM
12 comments
12 Comments:
He'd hate for me to do this, but I'd add Paul Mangum. Not only is he an excellent teacher, but he's an honestly humble man who has retained a sense of humor, raised a godly family (a large one!), loves the brethren and has a heart for the lost. The thing that impresses me the most is that he's done so consistently for so many years! May we be able to say the same some day.
If we can count those no longer alive, I'd choose Spurgeon for standing firmly on the Bible even when his denomination turned away.
I'd certainly agree with you about Piper, MacArthur and Sproul. (It's interesting you should mention Bach. I just got the 10 CD set of his sacred masterpieces. Lots of great listening ahead!) I would also add Handel & John Newton.
as far as dead guys go, you gotta add Athanasius and Martyn Lloyd Jones- same guys, different times
I don't know anything about Athanasius (I know, I know...I'll get to that church history book eventually..). Tell us about him. And Lloyd-Jones certainly stood out. Do you know what became of his congregation?
I'll add Adoniram Judson (you knew I would! ;). While travelling across the ocean in the 1700's on the way to India & Burma (with a new wife), he became convicted by the Word about baptism by immersion and left the Congregationalists, becoming a Baptist. He knew he would loose all his support. He knew the Baptists didn't even know him yet. He knew that communications back to the US, working this all out could take months and months. But he wanted to be obedient. What a step of faith!
Hello, what about Ghandi?
(hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha)
Hey I read a chapter in "Sketches of Jewish Social Life"- what a complex life. When was the Talmud and Mishna written? Were they around when James was written?
Oh ya- I also printed off some stuff from the Phil Johnson blog. He sure writes a lot. I have to print it out and bring it home to read later- too much reading on the screen.
What's with the Haiwain Shirts? He even had a picture of MacArthur in a Haiwain shirt (or however you spell it)
its funny how he said MacArthur is making an appearance on his blog. the truth is that Johnson is MacArthur's ghost writer who polishes and finishes a lot of MacArthur's stuff.
and as far as the Hawaiin shirts go, he's just a California boy at heart.
the mishna and talmud were written after James, in the second of third century.
That's funny how Phil Johnson in MacAruthur's ghost writer- I knew there was a reason why I was printing off his stuff to read!
Tim,
Don't be too hard on your kids. When you and Beth were little I was convicted about encouraging you both to have REAL heroes, not the shortly famous. I remember bringing up the issue at mealtime, to try to get you guys to think about what should be the qualities of a hero. I remember Beth said her heroes were Janie Thompson and Michelle Murray. Being rather stunned at the interesting mixture, I asked her why. She said Janie because she persevered for the Lord trying to get on the mission field and Michelle because "all the boys like her". ;) You, Tim, chose all sports figures, I believe. So you see, maturity can change one's point of view, though I do believe we should encourage kids to think Biblically about these things.
i had Jim Elliot, too! and david robinson was a pretty good pick, also.
If you're going to choose Jim Elliot, you should add Nate Saint and the 3 other guys who weren't written about as much. And how about Elizabeth and Nate's sister (?)- who went in to witness to the very people who had killed their loved ones. It's hard to choose missionaries because once you start down that trail it's hard to stop!
I'd have to choose Loren, too, because of the tremendous influence he had in my own life. I guess I'd call him my "spiritual father in the faith", even though I was a year older. ;)
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