Tim Tripp

Minister/Carpenter

[Tim Tripp @graceproduced]

The motion of the clouds is not spontaneous, but they move as they are moved by the winds; neither can gospel ministers choose their own stations and govern their own motions but must go when and where the Spirit and providence of God directs and guides them… John Flavel

[Thomas Sowell Quotes @ThomasSowell]

“I've been criticized for going over the heads of the Congress. So, what's the fuss? A lot of things go over their heads.”

— Ronald Reagan

[The Biblical Man @Biblicalman]

The congregation doesn't need your coffee joke.

They buried someone this week.

They're sitting in pews with divorce papers in their glovebox.
Kids who won't speak to them.
Test results they haven't opened.

They drove past three churches to hear you say something that costs you something.

So open the Book.

Forget the illustration you found on Google.
Skip the movie clip.
Kill the countdown timer on your outline.

Preach like a man possessed.
Preach like you'll answer for every wasted syllable.
Preach like their blood is on your hands.

Because it is.

The pulpit isn't a stage.

[Keith Foskey @YourCalvinist]

The Denominations Play Softball

[Senkulain @Senkulain]

Charlie Munger on why endless due-diligence is a sign of the wrong person in the chair

"If you're 96% sure, that's all you're entitled to in many cases"

pause at 0:28 - that's the line most people running capital have never been told

"They will send armies of young lawyers out at high rates per hour, ruffle through all the purchasing orders at a place like Esri"

"I don't think people that insecure mentally ought to be in positions of decision-making"

Bookmark & Watch It

[Michael Foster @thisisfoster]

We are being destroyed by agreeable men.

It's easy to like an agreeable man, at least at first. He presents himself as polite, reasonable, and warm. He avoids friction. He avoids awkward or uncomfortable topics. He smiles and nods wherever he can. A conversation with him at a backyard BBQ or in the church foyer can make for a pleasant time.

And those pleasant times can keep on rolling, unless you disturb what the agreeable man mistakes for peace. That is something he will not tolerate. In many cases, he'll simply avoid anything disagreeable. He would truly rather be in the room with a repugnant man who plays along with his desire for agreeableness than with a virtuous man who won't. Tolerance and avoidance are the twin pillars of his modus operandi. False peace is his idol.

But when the agreeable man's idol is touched, and he is forced to confront friction he can no longer avoid, the façade quickly evaporates. He lashes out. What follows is usually an irrational, emotional warpath. And because violating the shallow rules of decorum is, in his mind, the greatest sin, he must lie. He must misrepresent. He must spin the story lest the bystanders see him for what he really is. His goal is to preserve the appearance of reasonableness while shutting down and driving away those with reasonable objections that inevitably create discomfort.

He is an enemy of the reformer, who must press the issue and do so forthrightly. He is a friend of the smiling subversive who quietly corrodes institutions under the camouflage of false peace.

He is a destroyer.

[Ryan Denton @TexasPreacher]

Common problem - "I am disturbed when I am often told by members of churches that many of the younger reformed men are very good men, who have no doubt read a great deal, and are very leaned men, but that they are very dull and boring preachers." -MLJ

[Paul David Tripp @PaulTripp]

In a lifelong process of change, he is undoing you and rebuilding you again, not into a better version of you, but into a version of him!

[Paul David Tripp @PaulTripp]

God's love not only applies to your past sin and your future eternity; God's love meets you where you are, right here, right now.

[Paul David Tripp @PaulTripp]

You and I are much like the Israelites. When life isn't working out according to our plan, or when we're suffering in some way, it's very tempting for us to bring God into the court of our judgement and question his power, faithfulness, wisdom and love.

[Creeds & Confessions @CreedConfession]

“The very worst sin that’s ever been committed was the murder of the Son of God. The very best thing that’s ever happened on this planet was the death of the Son of God. And if God can make the worst thing the best thing, He can make your disappointment, even your sin, even your foolishness, work together for good.”

– Stuart Olyott

[Michael Foster @thisisfoster]

Like it or not, most young people listen to other young people.

A new mother will often ask advice from a woman who is only a year or two ahead of her before she will seek out a mother who has already raised six or seven children. That is just how things often work.

Part of that is immaturity. Part of it is that people tend to trust those who feel closer to their own stage of life. But part of it is also that many young people have not found older mentors available to them, or at least that has not been their experience.

The why here isn’t really the point. The fact that this is a tendency is the point.

Pastors and older women need to understand that.

It is fine to challenge this tendency from time to time. Older saints should make themselves available and encourage younger people to seek wisdom from those with more experience.

But you cannot build a ministry strategy around wishing young people worked differently than they do.

Instead, look for the younger men and women who are willing to learn from older, wiser people. Invest in them. Teach them. Help them grow.

Then lead through them.

As they grow, they will naturally influence others their own age or just below them. They become trusted voices among their peers, but they are passing along wisdom that has been tested by time and experience.

And as a related sidenote, any ministry built on youthful coolness has a very short shelf life.

We all stop being cool in the eyes of the young at some point. When older people keep trying to posture as trendy, hip, and young, it just becomes sad and desperate.

Better to accept your stage of life. I’m in full older dad to grandpa mode. It’s great.

Act your age. Embrace the fact that you are in a different season. Stop trying to compete with youthfulness and instead offer what youth can’t: tested wisdom, perspective, and maturity.

Then lead through younger people who have learned from you.

That is a far healthier way to build something that lasts.

[Tom Schreiner @DrTomSchreiner]

God knows, records, and cares about every grief and sorrow.

“You yourself have recorded my wanderings. Put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?”
(Ps 56:8 CSB)

[Investment Wisdom @InvestingCanons]

Charlie Munger:

“As Warren says, when a business with a reputation for being tough and a manager with an reputation for being brilliant get together, it’s the reputation of the business that remains.”

[Pastor Rich Lusk @Vicar1973]

“The praying disciple needs to be taught the necessity of labor and the laboring disciple needs to be taught the necessity of prayer. When our men of devotion become men of diligence and our men of diligence become men of devotion, when there is a union of humble hearts and busy hands, then shall the wonders of the Gospel be spread fruitfully abroad.”

-- Thomas Chalmers

[Jason Helopoulos @Helopoulos]

“Remember, sinner, it is not thy hold of Christ that saves thee—it is Christ; it is not thy joy in Christ that saves thee—it is Christ; it is not even faith in Christ, though that is the instrument—it is Christ’s blood and merits..." Spurgeon

[Tabletalk Magazine @Tabletalk]

What misconceptions can Christians have about worship? In this video, Dr. Derek Thomas mentions two misconceptions Christians may have about what is and what is not biblical worship. https://t.co/H4e1lo0Nc5

[Tim Tripp @graceproduced]

@TexasPreacher Amen!

[John Owen @JohnOwenDD]

He not only enableth our minds to apprehend the truth, but he shines into our hearts, the seat of spiritual experience, to "give us the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."

[Ligonier Ministries @Ligonier]

Suffering is painful. But it is also redeemed through the cross.

Watch as Derek Thomas comforts Christians with the truth that God has a plan and is working all things together for good.

[Greenville Seminary @GPTSeminary]

"Those are best prepared for the greatest mercies that see they are unworthy of the least." — Matthew Henry