For more than a week now, I’ve been working next to an awkward-looking, loudly-clicking, nonstop-running printer. My desk is conveniently located about 6 inches from R2-D2 (as it’s been affectionately named). It’s a bulky printer, but also hard working, and very, very noisy. It reminds me of the old dot matrix printers that violently slapped back and forth, making that indescribable whining sound, across an endless line of perforated paper. It sounds a lot like that, with a shot of abrupt clanking mixed in.
I’m told the unceasing whine from the printer will be done soon. But for the last week, “R2″ has been humming away 24/7, printing out colorful plastic nametags for each of the 5,000+ attendees scheduled to attend Together for the Gospel next week in Louisville.
Click.
As the loud printer slowly births each nametag—delivering one card every few minutes—the newborn falls on top of the other cards in the catch bin. I hear the click of the new card as it drops on the pile. Several times over this past week, at the sound of that click, I’ve paused momentarily to thank God for the person it represents. I don’t see the name, but I know that card represents someone for whom the gospel is precious, someone who prioritizes the gospel. And that is a work of God in their soul. So many works of grace. So many new births.
Click.
In the first couple days of the noise, my first thought at the click of the card was to wonder: is that the card that reads “John Piper, MN”? But separated from a thin screen, I cannot see the names. It’s just as likely the card represents a rural pastor from a farming community in Nebraska.
Listening to this printer has been wonderfully equalizing. When I get up from my desk I can see the long stacks of nametags, all arranged in alphabetical rows. Whether a main speaker, an old pastor, a young pastor, a ruling elder, a deacon, a seminary student, an aspiring seminary student, or a soul who is simply attending out of love for the gospel—each nametag is the same color, the same size, and the same arrangement. Equalized.
God knows our frame, that each of us are dust (Psalm 103:14). Saved. Precious to Him. Blood-bought. But we are all dust, equally dust, from A-Z.
Next week we gather at Together for the Gospel. But we are not coming together to huddle around prominent evangelical figures or to merely collect a stack of free books. We gather to proclaim our allegiance and faithfulness to the unchanging and eternal gospel. We gather to form a picture of God’s compassion, who, rather than destroying us, has compassionately atoned for our sin and redeemed us (Psalm 78:38-39).
Careful working too close to laser printers Tony. It could be killing you…all those carcinogenic particles floating in the air. Maybe SGM should supply you with a gas mask. Or perhaps you should rename the printer T-1000.
Pax,
Tom Bombadil
Comment by Tom Bombadil | April 10, 2008
Is it true that this years T4G conference will not be available on DVD?
Comment by John Mays | April 11, 2008
John, I’ve not heard that. 2006 is released on DVD from Ligonier. I’m not sure what would prevent DVDs in 08. T
[...] I feel her pain. As I sit here and browse around the blogosphere it seems everyone (here, here, here, here) is at T4G. Including my pastor. I do hope he finds refreshment and encouragement, though [...]
That is a question which is upmost in my mind. Will the whole Gospel of Christ be clearly and prominently displayed?If it is a truncated gospel, a partial christ, the gospel of a systematic theology rather than the Gospel of the great biblical narrative, then it will in the end rob Christ of His glory because it robs him of a major part of his redemptive work.
The Gospel Christ preached had as part of its theme. “The Kingdom of God”, the Gospel that Paul preached following the cross, the resurrection, the enthonement in heaven, the giving of the gift of the Holy Spirit, was the same Gospel, the Gospel of the Kingdom of God.
If this is left out, are we not in danger of preaching a truncated gospel, an unauthorized gospel, and as J.I.Packer has argued, a gospel which does not do what the original one was able to do, “The power of God unto salvation to every one who believes it.”
I will be praying for those that attend, that Christ in fact will not be betrayed, that the wole Gospel will be on display, so that you, my beloved brothers and I will be strengthened and empowered as only Christ alone, through the Gospel can accomplish for the glory of his Father.
John Paul Todd
e4unity.wordpress.com
Comment by e4unity | April 17, 2008
Thanks to you and R2-D2 for serving us by printing out those nametags. I’m not sure that I would have started many of the conversations I did were it not for those.
A thank you to SGM for all the hard work in organizing the conference, with everything, not just the name tags. I can say with confidence that the gospel of Jesus Christ, our King and Savior was not betrayed. Sola Deo Gloria.
I appreciate the tag all the more to be reminded of it’s production. We didn’t meet, sadly, but I want to say thank you for your blogging and for helping CJ blog.
Thanks for your hard work. The conference was great. By the way, I had a good conversation with your dad on Wednesday at lunch. He is a courtious and intelligent man. The conversation ranged from the Gospel to church planting to evangelism. Please let him know that I appreciated the short fellowship over lunch.
Bert, thank you for the comment and the kind words about my father. It was great to experience T4G with him in the same room. What a joy! And thank you for your example of faithfulness as your serve and sacrifice for your wife like Christ served and sacrificed for the Church. May we both do this well and with great joy! Thanks for the example!
“If you find me short in things, impute that to my love of brevity. If you find me besides the truth in anything, impute that to my infirmity. But if you find anything here that serves to your furtherance and joy of the faith, impute that to the mercy of God bestowed on you and me. Yours to serve you with what little I have.” John Bunyan (Works, 1:336).
* * * * * * * * * *
“In the cross of Christ, as in a splendid theater, the incomparable goodness of God is set before the whole world. The glory of God shines, indeed, in all creatures on high and below, but never more brightly than in the cross, in which there was a wonderful change of things—the condemnation of all men was manifested, sin blotted out, salvation restored to men; in short, the whole world was renewed and all things restored to order.” John Calvin
* * * * * * * * * *
Welcome to Miscellanies [formerly The Shepherd's Scrapbook] a blog serving sinners who seek their daily food in the Cross of Christ. Our goal is provide thoughts on Cross-centered living, theology, preaching and pastoral ministry. We review books considered excellent, announce new books that look interesting, and encourage biblical discernment with both. All of this should fuel our pursuit of the Cross. [Meet the winners of our book of the year awards: 2006 winner and the 2007 winners.]
Email: crede.ut.intelligas AT mac.com
Stay on top of the latest posts by subscribing to the RSS feed.
* * * * * * * * * *
Current reading …
Robert Louis Wilken, The Spirit of Early Christian Thought
Michael Holmes, The Apostolic Fathers: Greek Texts and English Translations (3rd ed.)
F.F. Bruce, The Spreading Flame: The Rise and Progress of Christianity from its First Beginnings to the Conversion of the English
Augustine, Expositions of the Psalms: 73-90, Boulding trans. (vol. III/18 )
Colin Duriez, Francis Schaeffer: An Authentic Life
Do-it-yourself Blank Bible. Of all the books we promote, none compare with God’s Word. We pursue the Cross as God opens His Word to us. In this anticipation, we encourage you to make your own blank bible like Jonathan Edwards.’ Building a blank bible shows both a commitment to serious, life-long reflection and the anticipation of God’s illuminating Spirit. To date, over 15,000 readers have accessed the Blank Bible Index.
* * * * * * * * * *
FREE book! What is God saying to us? How can we know Him? I wrote a little book — Come Unto Me: God’s Invitation to the World — to answer these questions. You can download the book as a PDF and you can read more about the background of the project here.
* * * * * * * * * *
Humble Calvinism.Early this year we started a series on Humble Calvinism, a study through John Calvin’s Institutes. Especially noteworthy is Calvin’s experiential sensitivity to the contours of godliness. Join us as we continue learning humble and holistic Calvinism as Calvin intended. See the Humble Calvinism series index here.
* * * * * * * * * *
The Puritan Study. The Puritans were Cross-boasters. So how do we use the wealth of Puritan literature in our personal devotions and expositional studies? Our series on building and using a Puritan Study answered this important question. For more see the full Puritan Study series index.
* * * * * * * * * *
Who am I? My name is Tony Reinkebut call me “chief of sinners.” For 22-years I hid from God in self-righteous religious ‘faithfulness’ until my stubborn heart was subdued by God’s sovereign grace (Eph. 2). In one moment, after a sermon by Paige Patterson in Lincoln, NE on Luke 18:9-14, I perceived the Gospel as the great exchange, and by God’s grace I released my self-righteousness to cling to the saving righteousness of Jesus Christ. That day I recognized I was a sinner playing the part of the Pharisee. It was the day I was reborn. Now nothing is more precious than knowing Christ — the God-man who died for me and gave me His righteousness in place of my sinfulness (Phil. 3:7-9). Pursuing further up and further into the Cross has become the center of my life and this blog is intended as a place to share this pursuit.
Educationally, I graduated from Bellevue University in Omaha, NE with a degree in Liberal Arts. Theologically, I’m an autodidact under the wise direction of a local church. I’ve been married for 10 years to my best friend, Karalee (a more gifted writer and blogger than myself) and we have three precious kids, a majority of whom are named after dead preachers. Last year I was interviewed by Joshua Sowin about life, books and reading (if you want more info)
God has given me the rare privilege and joy of serving as personal assistant to C.J. Mahaney (if you really want to learn from blogs, navigate away from this sorry one and check out what C.J. is saying on his.)
Misc stuff you don’t need to know but will read because you’re bored and surfing the Internet to kill time anyway: My nicknames include any variation of The Scribe, T-Scribble, Scribs, Big Blog Daddy, Big Honkin Blogdaddy, Big Blog Papi, T-Rex, Blogzilla, and Scribola (take your pick). Curtis Allen calls me by the name Tone Capone. Do I look like an Italian mobster? Here’s my mug.
Email/comments. I’m grateful for your readership and would love to hear from you. You can leave a comment on any post to get in touch. Depending upon time restraints I usually respond to email. You can email me at: crede.ut.intelligas AT mac.com .
* * * * * * * * * *
My book wishlist. Hopefully one day these valuable books will be added to my library. All from the The Works of Jonathan Edwards (Yale editions) …
Vol. 10: Sermons and Discourses ( 1720-1723 )
Vol. 14: Sermons and Discourses ( 1723-1729 )
Vol. 19: Sermons and Discourses ( 1734-1738 )
Vol. 25: Sermons and Discourses ( 1743-1758 )
Vol. 17: Sermons and Discourses ( 1730-1733 )
Vol. 22: Sermons and Discourses ( 1739-1742 )
Vol. 13: The ‘Miscellanies’ ( No. 1-500 )
Vol. 18: The ‘Miscellanies’ ( No. 501-832 )
Vol. 20: The ‘Miscellanies’ ( No. 833-1152 )
Vol. 23: The ‘Miscellanies’ ( No. 1153–1360 )
Vol. 15: Notes on Scripture
Vol. 8: Ethical Writings
Vol. 21: Trinity, Grace, and Faith
* * * * * * * * * *
Princeton Cemetery. I don’t know how I did it, but in the Spring of 2006 I convinced my wife and kids it would be fun to spend the day at Princeton cemetery. Princeton is famous for its school and less famous for its rich evangelical history. I took several photographs at Princeton Cemetery (where Edwards, Hodge, Warfield and the Alexanders are buried). These photos always remind me to be Cross-centered.
For more than a week now, I’ve been working next to an awkward-looking, loudly-clicking, nonstop-running printer. My desk is conveniently located about 6 inches from R2-D2 (as it’s been affectionately named). It’s a bulky printer, but also hard working, and very, very noisy. It reminds me of the old dot matrix printers that violently slapped back and forth, making that indescribable whining sound, across an endless line of perforated paper. It sounds a lot like that, with a shot of abrupt clanking mixed in.
Amen! Can’t wait!
I will ditto my Amen. Amen!
Can’t wait to get together for the Gospel!
Beautiful words, Tony. Thanks.
I look forward to seeing you there, Lord willing.
Careful working too close to laser printers Tony. It could be killing you…all those carcinogenic particles floating in the air. Maybe SGM should supply you with a gas mask. Or perhaps you should rename the printer T-1000.
Pax,
Tom Bombadil
Is it true that this years T4G conference will not be available on DVD?
John, I’ve not heard that. 2006 is released on DVD from Ligonier. I’m not sure what would prevent DVDs in 08. T
Okay, I’m going to grab 3 hours sleep then start driving down.
[...] I feel her pain. As I sit here and browse around the blogosphere it seems everyone (here, here, here, here) is at T4G. Including my pastor. I do hope he finds refreshment and encouragement, though [...]
Great post. What an experience to sit beside that machine.
Will TOGETHER FOR THE GOSPEL BETRAY CHRIST ?
That is a question which is upmost in my mind. Will the whole Gospel of Christ be clearly and prominently displayed?If it is a truncated gospel, a partial christ, the gospel of a systematic theology rather than the Gospel of the great biblical narrative, then it will in the end rob Christ of His glory because it robs him of a major part of his redemptive work.
The Gospel Christ preached had as part of its theme. “The Kingdom of God”, the Gospel that Paul preached following the cross, the resurrection, the enthonement in heaven, the giving of the gift of the Holy Spirit, was the same Gospel, the Gospel of the Kingdom of God.
If this is left out, are we not in danger of preaching a truncated gospel, an unauthorized gospel, and as J.I.Packer has argued, a gospel which does not do what the original one was able to do, “The power of God unto salvation to every one who believes it.”
I will be praying for those that attend, that Christ in fact will not be betrayed, that the wole Gospel will be on display, so that you, my beloved brothers and I will be strengthened and empowered as only Christ alone, through the Gospel can accomplish for the glory of his Father.
John Paul Todd
e4unity.wordpress.com
Thanks to you and R2-D2 for serving us by printing out those nametags. I’m not sure that I would have started many of the conversations I did were it not for those.
A thank you to SGM for all the hard work in organizing the conference, with everything, not just the name tags. I can say with confidence that the gospel of Jesus Christ, our King and Savior was not betrayed. Sola Deo Gloria.
thank you again
I appreciate the tag all the more to be reminded of it’s production. We didn’t meet, sadly, but I want to say thank you for your blogging and for helping CJ blog.
Dave, guest of the UK SGM guys.
Hey Tony VERY NICE name tags! I plan to keep mine.
Hope to see you in May at the Banner Conference.
Tony,
Thanks for your hard work. The conference was great. By the way, I had a good conversation with your dad on Wednesday at lunch. He is a courtious and intelligent man. The conversation ranged from the Gospel to church planting to evangelism. Please let him know that I appreciated the short fellowship over lunch.
Bert Lumetta (KY)
Bert, thank you for the comment and the kind words about my father. It was great to experience T4G with him in the same room. What a joy! And thank you for your example of faithfulness as your serve and sacrifice for your wife like Christ served and sacrificed for the Church. May we both do this well and with great joy! Thanks for the example!
Blessings, Bert!
Tony