Dr Jon Payne’s Pastoral Letters Regarding The Lord’s Day

Dr. Jon Payne’s pastoral letters to his congregation regarding the Lord’s day:

The Lord’s Day, Recovering a Lost Blessing
http://grace-pca.net/the-lord-s-day-recovering-a-lost-blessing

Morning and Evening Worship
http://grace-pca.net/morning-evening-worship

The Market Day of the Soul
http://grace-pca.net/the-market-day-of-the-soul

7 Good Reasons to Attend Evening Worship
http://grace-pca.net/seven-good-reasons-to-attend-evening-worship

Other articles by him, http://grace-pca.net/selection-of-pastoral-letters-by-dr-payne

A Lord’s Day Testimony

“I have found by a strict and diligent observation that a due observance of the duties of the Lord’s Day hath ever had joined to it a blessing upon the rest of my time, and the week that hath been so begun hath been blessed and prosperous to me; and on the other side, when I have been negligent of the duties of the day, the rest of the week has been unsuccessful and unhappy in my own secular employments. This I write, not lightly or inconsiderately, but upon long and sound observation and experience.” - Lord Chief Justice of England Sir Matthew Hale, (Works of Sir Matthew Hale, ed T. Thirlwall)

Baxter’s Wisdom on Man and the Lord’s Day

Richard Baxter with a constructive evangelical principle of judgement regarding the Lord’s Day,
“I will first look at a man’s positive duties on the Lord’s Day, how he heareth and readeth and prayeth and spendeth his time, and how he instructeth and helpeth his family; and if he be diligent in seeking God, and ply his heavenly business, I shall be very backward to judge him for a word or action about worldly things that falls in on the by….” (Baxter, Works) also found in A Quest for Godliness by JI Packer.

Leadership character: A six-part series by West Point’s Col. Eric Kail

Leadership character: Introduction

Leadership character: The role of courage

Leadership character: The role of integrity

Leadership character: The role of selflessness

Leadership character: The role of empathy

Leadership character: The role of collaboration

Leadership character: The role of reflection

The character of the Fourth Commandment - Matthew Henry

‘The sabbath,’ is a sacred and divine institution; but we must receive and embrace it as a privilege and a benefit, not as a task and a drudgery. FIRST, God never designed it to be an imposition upon us, and therefore we must not make it so to ourselves…. SECONDLY, God did design it to be an advantage to us, and so we must make and improve it…. He had much more regard for our souls. The sabbath was made a day of rest, only in order to its being a day of holy work, a day of communion with God, a day of praise and thanksgiving; and the rest from worldly business is therefore necessary, that we may closely apply ourselves to this work, and spend the whole time in it, in public and private…. See here what a good master we serve, all whose institutions are for our own benefit…. (Matthew Henry on Mark 2:27 - The character of the Fourth Commandment)

Wise Words on Good & Bad Tweeting

@tonyreinke interviews @rayortlund. Here’s an exchange:

In your forthcoming commentary on Proverbs you write, “Twitter and blogs and emails would be cleared of much conflict if we humbled our opinions before Christ. What are we here for, really? What does God want to be stirred up in our hearts? He says, stir one another up to love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24).” Unpack that for a moment. What, in your mind, is the effect of a failed tweet? What is the intended effect of a successful tweet?

A failed tweet displays Self.

A successful tweet displays Christ.

Who cares about the details of my daily life? I hardly care myself.

But I think we can all agree on this: we must decrease, but he must increase.

What I aim at in using the media is another person being able to click in and click out quickly, with maximum benefit to their souls.

Everyone is so busy. But everyone matters.

I want to ask little of them, and add much to them.

I am there to serve, not to demand or impress, by giving them more of Jesus.

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2012/03/09/wise-words-on-good-and-bad-tweeting