Don't Waste Your Life...

Jill did not waste hers. I really need to go back and count up all the women who have emailed or commented about how Jill discipled or otherwise poured her life into them. There have been dozens. Oh to leave a legacy like she has in her short life! She may have had only one biological son, but she has a quiver full of spiritual daughters.

I want to speak to older women reading this: what will your legacy be? For some of you, it may seem too late to leave a legacy like Jill, and you may be right. But it is never too late to begin to leave a legacy. Perhaps you yourself need to be discipled, seek out another lady to disciple you so that you can disciple others.

Young ladies: What will your legacy be? You have youth on your side, but as we have seen, youth is no guarantee of longevity. You may think you have time to build a legacy later, but you may not. If you need discipling find an older lady who can pour her life into you, and then seek to disciple others.

Jill lived like eternity was just around the corner, may we all live like that and not waste our lives.

The book at the top of the screen is a book about not wasting your life by John Piper.
You can buy it here.

Job... Again

I will be preaching Job 1:1-2:10 on Sunday night at Wyatt.

For a good sermon on this text go here.

Church Leadership

I love the way our church has "stepped up" in the temporary absence of our pastor. Scott has taught tirelessly that one of his main purposes is to prepare the church body to minister, and not just to minister to us (though he has done that very well). I went to SAU today and ate lunch to be greeted by about a dozen from our church who went to an International Student Activity.

I have heard other stories of our deacons selflessly ministering to others (this is no surprise of course.) We have a basketball ministry on Monday nights and I heard last night's meeting was great. I look forward to publishing a report from what happened in the near future.

I am so proud to be a part of Wyatt Baptist Church. We have a very unique and very biblical church structure. Instead of having a "pastor-as-CEO" model, we have a group of men who lead the church as pastors. We are going to be able to fill the pulpit with men who are at the church, and won't be dependent on pulpit supply.

Our situation shows how important having a biblical model for church leadership really is. Many times when one man decides the vision, teaching and overall direction, the church becomes unhealthily dependent on one man. If he leaves, the whole structure falls apart, and then the church will be at the mercy of the next pastor's vision, teaching and direction. If you have a group of godly men who have "one mind" on the vision, teaching and direction that the church ought to see, believe and go, then the displacement of a pastor does not affect the direction of the church because there are others to pick up where the displaced pastor left off.

I wish more churches would adopt this biblical model for church leadership. This along with other biblical mandates for the church are found in the book displayed at the top of this page- Nine Marks of a Healthy Church by Mark Dever. It's amazing that in addition to it being biblical it is also very practical...go figure.

Scott Attebery

Below, Tyra made this comment:
"Scott has to be the most special, dear man to have won the heart of Jill Jarvis!"
Truer words were never spoken. Scott is an invaluable gift to me, my family, and our church. He is probably the most gifted person that I know personally, and I know some really awesome people. I can't tell you how much he has ministered to me these past 3 years since we have been at Wyatt.
We have spent probably 130 Sunday afternoons at their home after church. When we began to go to Wyatt, Scott and Jill invited us to stay at their house since the drive back to Magnolia was so long (and gas was so high!).
Scott and Jill are such a great example of a wonderful marriage. They were crazy about each other, and that was evident. We spent a lot of time around them, and if they were just putting on, I think we would have been able to detect it. We didn't detect anything except that they had a wonderfully uncommon union.
Scott is an indefatigable defender of truth. His love for God has been an inspiration to me to love God more. I've never known someone who was so much the same in the pulpit and out. If you know him, you know what I'm talking about. He doesn't put on a "preacher persona" and transform into a pulpiteer when he steps into that space, he's just Scott. That kind of consistency has been a breath of fresh air to me.
Another reason that I love Scott so much is because he won't like that I even took the time to write this. He probably thinks my time is better spent trying to minister to others. Well, that is what I'm doing. The more people know you, Jill and our God, the better served they will be. I love it that there is no difference between telling people about you and Jill, and ministering to them. Telling them about you ministers, because that's what you are about. Kind of like (this is a very imperfect analogy) there is no inconsistency between glorifying God and enjoying Him.
I give thanks to God for Scott, and am very hopeful for what God has in store for him and all of us who have been so affected by his and Jill's life.

529 Instructions for Those Who Contribute

For those who have or will contribute to Bryce's 529 account, please send a note to Wyatt Baptist Church telling who you are and how much you contributed. The Gift Plan does not automatically notify anyone about who gives what as far as I know. Thanks, Jonathan