Foundations of the Faith #17
This is the most recent video of our Foundations of the Faith class covering the topic of prayer.
March 09 2010 | No Comments »
“Getting Things Done” Book Review
About a year ago I read an article titled, “How to Get Your Email Inbox to Zero Every Day” over at Matt Perman’s blog. The result of reading this single blog post was a massive overhaul not only in how I handled e-mail but in the total picture of my work flow. Perman’s article consistently referenced a system of productivity called GTD (Getting Things Done), which is where he got most of his productivity principles from.
As I began to research the topic of productivity and to sharpen my system I kept running across the name David Allen and the book Getting Things Done, so I asked my wife to get it for me for Christmas and read it over Christmas break. Having finished reading Getting Things Done I now understand what all of the excitement is about!
Allen’s basic point is that everyone, from businessmen to housewives, needs some kind of a trusted system that they use in order to capture ideas, turn them into tasks and keep them organized so that they don’t feel like their work life is out of control. Prior to reading Getting Things Done I would routinely look over my pile of things to do and feel a sense of anxiety. What I didn’t realize was that the anxiety wasn’t the result of the work, but of my perception of the work. It all just looked like one massive pile (which it was), rather than an organized set of tasks that could be prioritized and accomplished one by one. The result of reading Getting Things Done has been a tremendous sense of freedom and control over my work life. I now look at my inbox with a sense of excitement and anticipation, rather than dread over what’s lurking in the pile that I’d forgotten about.
Here’s the basic formula that I’ve developed using the tools from Getting Things Done:
1) Anything that I need to do or want to think about ends up in one of three inboxes. I have a physical inbox in my office, my e-mail inbox, and my evernote inbox (I also have voice mail, but I don’t really get a lot of messages that way). What these inboxes do is serve as hoppers for me to store information, or tasks until I can get around to dealing with them.
2) Each day I process my inboxes by dealing with each item and deciding what to do with it. If something is in my inbox there are only two things that it can be there for. It’s either for reference or for me to do something with. If it’s for reference I can look it over and decide whether to throw it away or to keep it for later reference. If it needs an action associated with it I will either do the action (if it takes less than 2 minutes), or put it on a list that I review every day and get to it when I can.
3) In conjunction with my calendar, each day I review my action list and my project list to see what needs to get done and I do it.
4) There are a few other steps like reminders for items that I want to get to later, weekly reviews, etc. but this is the basic system.
I know this sounds incredibly simplistic and that’s really the beauty of the whole system. Because I know that all of my work responsibilities have been captured in this system, I can approach each day with a clear mind and a sense of confidence that nothing has slipped through the cracks.
Getting Things Done won’t improve your spiritual life, help your relationship with your kids, or give you a better marriage (that’s what the Bible is for), but it is an excellent tool for clearing your mind from all of the clutter of day to day life and helping you to focus more intently on the things in life that really do matter. I highly recommend it.
March 08 2010 | 5 Comments »
The ESV MacArthur Study Bible
I am so excited about the new MacArthur Study Bible that’s coming out in the ESV. MacArthur recently said that the ESV is “the newest, freshest, and by far the best translation.”
MacArthur ESV Study Bible Promo from Crossway on Vimeo.
If you aren’t familiar with the MacArthur Study Bible, this is a great video introducing it.
HT: Justin Taylor
March 05 2010 | No Comments »
The Pastor’s Charge
A good friend of mine recently sent me an e-mail encouraging me to listen to CJ Mahaney’s sermon from the 2009 Gospel Coalition meeting on “The Pastor’s Charge”. By God’s grace I was able to listen to the sermon during a week of unbelievably intense ministry and was profoundly blessed by it. I would highly recommend it to anyone involved in Pastoral Ministry or to anyone who just loves their pastor and wants to know his life a little better.
You can also find the podcast version of the sermon under “The Gospel Coalition 2009” podcast series on iTunes or Zune Marketplace.
HT: Bible Places Blog for the above picture.
March 03 2010 | No Comments »
A Bitter Sweet Providence
The following is a letter which we recently sent out to the congregation of Emmanuel Baptist Church regarding my recent call to come and shepherd the flock of Cool Community Church in Cool, CA.
Dear Emmanuel,
It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost five years since I first came to EBC to serve as the Pastor of Student Ministries. Many things have changed in the last five years, most notably the size of my family. When Amy and I first came to Mount Vernon, we brought ourselves and our luggage. Over these last 5 years the Lord has added to our family first with the birth of Micah in 2006, then with Cody in 2008 and this April we will be expecting our third boy, Luke.
While many things have changed over these last five years, one thing has remained the same: we still have a deep love for Emmanuel Baptist Church. In fact, that’s why we came here from California in the first place. I still remember my first conversation with the search committee and the unexplainable love which immediately welled up inside of me for this church.
As a pastor, my desire has always been to shepherd whatever flock God places me in. Over the course of the last few months the Lord has made it clear to Amy and me that He is calling us to care for another flock back in California. For us, this parting is a bitter sweet providence as we look forward to what God will do in the future and as we say our goodbyes to beloved friends.
In June, we will be packing up our house and our 3 kids and moving back down to California to take on a Senior Pastor role at Cool Community Church in Cool, CA (yes, the name of the town is “Cool”). Cool Church is a warm, loving body of believers located about 45 minutes outside of Sacramento and about 90 minutes from Lake Tahoe in Gold country. Cool reminds me a lot of Conway because it is in the country and yet relatively close to the city. Cool Church was started as a Village Missions church 30 years ago and recently joined the Evangelical Free denomination.
The last five years here at Emmanuel have been filled with joy for both Amy and me. We will always look back on our time at EBC with great love and affection and we look forward to visiting in the future to catch up with all of our friends. In the meantime, please continue to pray for us as we work to sell our home, get ready to have our next baby, and continue to minister through the rest of this school year.
‘Til Sin is Bitter Christ Will Not be Sweet,
Drew Buell
February 28 2010 | No Comments »
The Antipsalm
I’ve been spending some time in Psalm 23 recently and in my study I ran across the following poem by David Powlison. It’s called the “Antipsalm” because it’s written to be the exact opposite of Psalm 23. Oftentimes in Bible study it helps to see what something is not, in order for you to see what it is.
I’m on my own.
No one looks out for me or protects me.
I experience a continual sense of need. Nothing’s quite right.
I’m always restless. I’m easily frustrated and often disappointed.
It’s a jungle — I feel overwhelmed. It’s a desert — I’m thirsty.
My soul feels broken, twisted, and stuck. I can’t fix myself.
I stumble down some dark paths.
Still, I insist: I want to do what I want, when I want, how I want.
But life’s confusing. Why don’t things ever really work out?
I’m haunted by emptiness and futility — shadows of death.
I fear the big hurt and final loss.
Death is waiting for me at the end of every road,
but I’d rather not think about that.
I spend my life protecting myself. Bad things can happen.
I find no lasting comfort.
I’m alone … facing everything that could hurt me.
Are my friends really friends?
Other people use me for their own ends.
I can’t really trust anyone. No one has my back.
No one is really for me — except me.
And I’m so much all about ME, sometimes it’s sickening.
I belong to no one except myself.
My cup is never quite full enough. I’m left empty.
Disappointment follows me all the days of my life.
Will I just be obliterated into nothingness?
Will I be alone forever, homeless, free-falling into void?
Sartre said, “Hell is other people.”
I have to add, “Hell is also myself.”
It’s a living death,
and then I die.
February 24 2010 | No Comments »
Foundations of the Faith #16
Here’s the video from our latest Foundations of the Faith class covering the person and work of the Holy Spirit.
February 22 2010 | No Comments »
3 Questions for the Fear of Man
One of the most common issues that comes up in my counseling office, as well as in my own spiritual life is “the fear of man.” Ed Welch defines the fear of man in simple terms, it is “when people are big and God is small.” Welch writes, “Scripture gives three basic reasons why we fear other people…1) We fear people because they can expose and humiliate us. 2) We fear people because they can reject, ridicule, or despise us. 3) We fear people because they can attack, oppress, or threaten us. These three reasons have one thing in common: they see people as ‘bigger’ (that is, more powerful and significant) than God, and, out of the fear that creates in us, we give other people the power and right to tell us what to feel, think, and do.”
The fear of man can take on many different shapes and sizes. It might look like an unpleasable boss who apparently has the power to bring financial ruin upon you by firing you. For pastors, it often looks like a disgruntled church member who can bring untold chaos to the body by gossiping, calling for special meetings, and writing endless letters. In some extreme cases it may look like an abusive spouse or father who verbally puts you down in order to lift himself up. What all of these circumstances have in common is the fact that the person in question looks very powerful and intimidating. The fear of man is so powerful that it can even take on physical manifestations, especially for those who have dealt with abuse in the past: sweaty palms, heart racing, nervous habits, or even panic attacks can all be the results of the fear of man.
Proverbs 29:25 says, “The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.” The snare of the fear of man is that it if people are big and powerful in our estimation, God is invariably small. There is only so much room in the human heart and when men become too big, the heart diminishes God and our perception of his ability to save.
Like most people, I’ve struggled with the fear of man since I was a child. In counseling I’ve recently come up with a set of questions to help overcome the fear of man. These certainly aren’t exhaustive, but I’ve found them to be extremely helpful in my own life, as well as the lives of those I work with.
When I am tempted to fear man I want to ask myself 3 questions.
1) Who do I fear right now? This question is intended to be something of a slap in the face, to help me realize what I’m struggling with. The real issue is not that I have a disgruntled church member who may cause great harm to the church; the real issue is that I am being tempted to fear him or her more than I fear God. Psalm 34:7, 9 might be a good verse to meditate on in this regard, “The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and delivers them…Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack.”
2) How have I sinned? This second question is really designed for me to “get the log out of my own eye” (Matthew 7:3-5). Often times the fear of man can look like a false sense of guilt over something I’m being accused of. This question allows me to step out of the situation I’m in and ask myself in biblical terms if I have sinned. The goal of this question is that I would make that right with the Lord, before I make it right with anyone else (Psalm 51:4).
3) How have I been sinned against? This final question is meant to provide one more level of clarity as I work through the fear of man. If I’ve sinned against someone than I need to go and make it right with them, on the other hand if someone else has sinned against me I need to go and confront them in that. Matthew 18:15 says, “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault.” The goal of this question isn’t for me to find a weapon to attack with, but rather to help clear the fog of the fear of man from my eyes and to see people accurately through the lens of scripture.
There are certainly other questions that could be asked and would be helpful (i.e. “How can I serve in this situation?” or “What does God expect of me right now?”), but the big idea is to use questions to lift the fog of the fear of man and to see God as He truly is. Isaiah 66:1-2, “Thus says the Lord: Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.”
February 21 2010 | No Comments »
2009 Buell Family Video
I spent a good part of the afternoon putting together this little video covering parts of our family life from 2009. I hope you enjoy it.
February 20 2010 | No Comments »