I watched in fascination as the programmer wrote line after line of code, each word and each line forming part of an increasingly complex whole. His fingers were barely visible as they tapped out letter after letter and number after number. And then his work was done. With a smile and a flourish, he compiled the code and hit “play.” I marveled to see what he had created. And I thought “What a great keyboard! If only I had that same keyboard I could create a program as incredible as that!”

I gazed with rapt attention as the artist shaped his sculpture. With a shaping tool held deftly in his hand, he carved away large portions of the marble and then, as he progressed, carefully tapped out much smaller ones. Then he took his rasp and delicately smoothed and polished the surface. Bit by bit he worked at that block of marble until it began to reveal the wondrous figure that he had had the vision to know was hidden within. And I spoke it out loud: “I need that shaping tool! I need that rasp! Those tools are responsible for this sculpture. I need them for myself.”
I stared fixedly as the mechanic repaired the engine that had long since ceased to function. With wrench and ratchet and a number of tools I could not identify, he dismantled, then cleaned, then repaired, then reassembled. Finally, he sat in the driver’s seat, turned the key, and listened in satisfaction as the engine roared to life. And I cried, “Praise the tools! I need that wrench and I need that ratchet because then I, too, will be able to be an expert mechanic!”
None of this is true. And none of it is sane. It would be crazy to think that if only I had the right keyboard, the right rasp and shaping tool, the right wrench and ratchet then I would be able to create a game, shape a sculpture, or fix an engine. And it would be even more crazy to think that the creative or reparative genius resides in the tool instead of the one who wields it. It’s the programmer who deserves to be commended, not the keyboard; the sculptor who should have his name in the history books, not his implements; and the mechanic who should be applauded rather than the hardware he used.
And so it should be with us when it comes to preachers and preachers, to speakers and speaking, to writers and writing—tools he uses to accomplish his purposes. As I recently heard in a sermon, “We celebrate God, not the tool.” Or we are supposed to, anyway.
When we hear a sermon that stimulates our minds, we owe praise to God, not the preacher. When we hear a new song that provokes our hearts to worship, we ought to praise God long before the songwriter. When we receive the benefit of another person’s gifting we ought to express gratitude to God, not the one who merely made use of what God had generously bestowed upon him. We praise God, not the tool.
When we ourselves are the ones who have been used by God—when we have preached a sermon that has deeply affected those who heard it, when we have composed a song that moves hearts in worship and obedience, when we have written words that have stimulated others on to love and good deeds—our response should be “I am an undeserving servant; I have only done my duty.” It must be our desire to have them praise God, not the tool.
Of course, there will be times to encourage another person and express our gratitude to them, for God works through tools, not apart from them. And he most often works through tools that have submitted to his use and done their best to foster and strengthen it. But ultimately, it is always and ever God who deserves our praise, God who deserves our worship, God who deserves the honor. Always and ever we celebrate God far ahead of the tools he wields for our good and his glory.

Thanks to all who came out to the launch event yesterday. It was a blessing to meet so many of you. I’m sorry that we ran out of books! The bookstore is attempting to replenish them; alternatively, you can order it from the bookstore or online.

Don’t Sleep on Rural Ministry
Jared Wilson has some good comments here on rural ministry.
How Can I Confirm Whether I Am Truly Saved? (Video)
This is a helpful answer to a very common question.
The Word Faithfully Preached
I enjoyed these comments on faithful preachers and faithful preaching
Forgiven
“Simon invites Jesus to a meal in his home. Holding Him at arm’s length. Studying the Master. And in the midst of critical scrutiny, he foregoes the most basic act of hospitality. Washing the feet of his guest.”
Why would God ever be gracious to us?
“Why would God ever be gracious to us? Why would he ever be gracious and kind and loving to a bunch of miserable, rotten sinners? After all, the God of the Bible is quite explicit in his condemnation of us from start to finish.”
Driven by Awe: Fighting Sin
“When Christians think of fighting sin, we usually imagine strict self-discipline and saying ‘no’ to wrong desires. Certainly, self-control is one of the fruits of the Spirit and a means of helping us fight our sin. But, what if we had another tool given to us by the Spirit to help us overcome?”
Flashback: Parent Love and Grandparent Love
Let me offer two ways I believe grandparents can take on a role of spiritual influence in the lives of their grandchildren.

When discipline leaves a church, Christ goes with it. —John Dagg

The debate about the continuation or cessation of the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit shows no signs of abating or of coming to a resolution. This is true within the wider church and true also within the narrower group who hold to Calvinistic theology. The debate began soon after the coalescing of what became known as “New Calvinism” and it extends today past its recent rupture. Some insist that the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit—prophecy, healing, and tongues—have ceased and base their view on Scriptural proof; others insist that the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit are still operative and base their view on Scriptural proof. Additionally, both base their view on experience (or lack thereof). Two positions, two convictions, and two sets of experiences—yet only one can be correct.

New to the discussion is Cessationist, a two-hour documentary film directed by Les Lanphere (Calvinist, Spirit & Truth). As evidenced by the name, this film does not mean to provide arguments for competing perspectives while allowing the viewer to evaluate and choose between them. Rather, it is a defense of the cessationist position and a critique of continuationism. It makes its argument through a script written and narrated by David Lovi, interviews with those who hold to the cessationist position (e.g. Joel Beeke, Phil Johnson, Steven Lawson), and an abundance of videos by continuationist teachers and leaders.
I will tip my cards from the outset and go on record as a convinced cessationist. But as such I always feel the need to add this crucial but often misunderstood clarification: Cessationists believe that God can continue to perform miracles, and not merely that he can but that he does. And so we do pray that God would act in miraculous ways; we do follow Scriptural instructions by having elders lay hands on the sick and pray for them; we do see him work in out-of-the-ordinary ways. What we do not believe is that God continues to distribute the spiritual gift of prophecy, the spiritual gift of healing, or the spiritual gift of tongues. Hence, while there may be extraordinary actions on God’s part, he no longer distributes the extraordinary gifts. He no longer distributes them because they are no longer necessary following the establishment of the church and the completion of the Bible.
I will consider Cessationist through two lenses: whether it offers a valid defense of its position and whether it offers a fair critique of the alternative.
Does Cessationist offer a valid defense of its position? While admitting that I am by no means unbiased, I believe it does. Before it offers any substantial critique, it explains why there is solid evidence within Scripture that God meant for the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit to operate for a time, but then to cease. The film does this by showing the rarity of miracles in the Bible and the fact that they were grouped around certain crucial periods of redemptive history, by examining key passages that offer teaching about the use of gifts and the sufficiency of Scripture, and by drawing conclusions from the obvious decline of the gifts through the progressive narrative of Scripture. It makes a strong positive case for its position.
Does Cessationist offer a fair critique of the alternative position? I believe it does. It is easily able to rally the extreme fringes of the charismatic movement to its cause to show continuationism at its worst. Many of these people are obvious frauds and charlatans. Yet it also shows that some of the foremost theologians of continuationist theology are men we respect and regard as friends for their other positions—John Piper, Wayne Grudem, Sam Storms. I believe it treats them fairly, evaluating and critiquing their positions without writing them off entirely. I don’t think it ascribes to them positions they would not agree with, though they may perhaps take issue with the associations, such as when the film flows directly from Todd Bentley to John Piper—one of them a man whose wider theology and ministry track record is abhorrent and the other of them a man who honors God and serves his people.
The thing about the debate between cessationism and continuationism is that one side must be wrong—and quite seriously wrong. If cessationists are wrong, they are neglecting to exercise gifts that God may wish to use mightily for the saving of the lost, the blessing of his people, and the glory of his name. If continuationists are wrong, they are acting in ways the Bible forbids and foolishly thinking they are speaking in tongues, healing others, and, perhaps most seriously of all, prophesying in God’s name when they are actually doing no such thing. While we can still regard those who hold to the opposite position as friends and brothers, we must also believe they are disobeying God and acting in ways that are misguided or perhaps even foolish. The stakes are high, which means we do well to deepen our understanding and sharpen our convictions.
While I am certain that advocates of continuationist theology will take issue with some of the Cessationist’s claims and some of the associations it draws, I generally found it to be a strong and fair critique of an issue of great importance. No matter your perspective on the issue, I’d encourage you to watch it, to consider its claims, and to better understand why so many Christians are convinced that God no longer means for us to pursue or to exercise those extraordinary gifts.
(Note: The film is also already available in Spanish)