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About the Book
"Ishmael & Isaac" is a thought-provoking e-novel that explores the themes of family, religion, and destiny through the parallel stories of two brothers, Ishmael and Isaac. As they navigate their relationships with their father, Abraham, and their faith in God, the brothers are forced to confront their differences and ultimately come to a deeper understanding of themselves and their place in the world. The novel delves into complex moral dilemmas and raises important questions about the nature of belief and the search for purpose.
William Still
I recently read Dying to Live (Christian Focus, 1991), the autobiography of Scottish pastor William Still. I became interested in Still after reading his book The Work of the Pastor earlier this year.
The first half of Dying to Live tells about Stillâs early years into young adulthood and his beginning in pastoral ministry. Still had an unsettled childhood. His parents were separated in his early years, and his father was an alcoholic. He was a sickly child who took refuge in music and became an accomplished pianist. He was part of the Salvation Army as a young man but then entered ministry in the Church of Scotland and served at the Gilcomston Church in his hometown of Aberdeen from 1945-1997.
The second half of the book deals with various aspects of Stillâs pastoral ministry. Still was an evangelical. In his early ministry he worked with Billy Graham, Alan Redpath, and others in evangelistic events. With time, however, he moved away from what he came to call âevangelisticismâ to develop a solid expositional ministry.
Still faced his fair share of hardships during the course of his ministry. When he moved away from pragmatic evangelistic methods, for example, more than two hundred people stopped attending his church almost overnight. In the preface, he references Martin Lutherâs observation that there are three things which make a minister: study, prayer, and afflictions. He observes, âHe who is not prepared to make enemies for Christâs sake by the faithful preaching of the Word will never make lasting friends for Christ, eitherâ (p. 93).
He describes one particularly difficult controversy early in his ministry when he confronted a group of disgruntled elders. At the end of one Sunday service, he read a statement confronting these men, which ended, âThere you sit, with your heads down, guilty men. What would you say if I named you before the whole congregation? You stand condemned before God for your contempt of the Word and of his folk.â He adds, âThe moment I had finished, I walked out of the pulpit. There was no last hymnâno benediction. I went right home. It was the hardest and most shocking thing I ever had to do in Gilcomstonâ (p. 124). That same week seven of his elders resigned and Still was called twice before his Presbytery to answer for the controversy. Yet, he endured.
Still maintains that in light of the unpleasantness one will face in the ministry that the minister of the Word must possess one quality in particular: ââŚI would say that this quality is courage: guts, sheer lion-hearted bravery, clarity of mind and purpose, grit. Weaklings are no use here. They have a place in the economy of God if they are not deliberate weaklings and stunted adults as Paul writes of both to the Romans and to the Corinthians. But weaklings are no use to go out and speak prophetically to men from God and declare with all compassion, as well as with faithfulness, the truth: the divine Word that cuts across all menâs worldly plans for their livesâ (p. 140).
Still was a pioneer in several areas. First, he developed a pattern of preaching and teaching systematically through books of the Bible at a time when this was rarely done. He began a ministry of âconsecutive Bible teachingâ starting with the book of Galatians in 1947, calling this transition from âevangelisticism to systematic exposition ⌠probably the most significant decision in my lifeâ (p. 191).
He was also a pioneer in simplifying and integrating the ministry of the church. After noting how youth in the church were drifting away, even after extensive involvement in the churchâs childrenâs ministry, Still writes, âI conceived the idea of ceasing all Sunday School after beginners and Primary age (seven years) and invited parents to have their children sit with them in the family pew from the age of eightâ (p. 171). He laments âthe disastrous dispersion of congregations by the common practice of segregating the church family into every conceivable category of division of ages, sexes, etc.â (p. 173).
Dying to Live is a helpful and encouraging work about the life and work of the minister and is to be commended to all engaged in the call of gospel ministry. As the title indicates, Stillâs essential thesis is that in order to be effective in ministry the minister must suffer a series of deaths to himself (cf. John 12:24). On this he writes:
The deaths one dies before ministry can be of long durationâit can be hours and days before we minister, before the resurrection experience of anointed preaching. And then there is another death afterwards, sometimes worse than the death before. From the moment that you stand there dead in Christ and dead to everything you are and have and ever shall be and have, every breath you breathe thereafter, every thought you think, every word you say and deed you do, must be done over the top of your own corpse or reaching over it in your preaching to others. Then it can only be Jesus that comes over and no one else. And I believe that every preacher must bear the mark of that death. Your life must be signed by the Cross, not just Christâs cross (and there is really no other) but your cross in his Cross, your particular and unique cross that no one ever diedâthe cross that no one ever could die but you and you alone: your death in Christâs death (p. 136).
five ways to build stronger relationships
âThat used to be nice.â That was the first response when I recently asked a group of men what comes to mind when they think about friendship. Once they entered their upper twenties and thirties, many of them no longer had close friendships. We mostly laughed when joking about Jesusâs âmiracleâ of having twelve close friends in his thirties. Many factors combine to make friendship difficult for men. Personally, time for friends seems unrealistic in light of work or family responsibilities. Culturally, we donât have a shared understanding of what friendships among men should look like. We also find ourselves connecting more digitally than deeply. Weâve lost a vision for strong, warm, face-to-face and side-by-side male friendship. But God made us for more. He made us in his own image, the image of a triune God who exists in communal love. Therefore, friendship is not a luxury; itâs a relational necessity. We glorify God by enjoying him and reflecting his relational love with one another. If you are a man who has struggled to go deeper with other men, here are five concrete steps to cultivate deeper friendships. 1. Establish rhythms for your relationships. Without rhythms in our lives, the important priorities donât get done. If we value communing with God through his word and prayer, we form a habit. If we want to exercise consistently, we create a pattern. Hereâs a proposal for cultivating friendship: Build it into your schedule. Establish a regular rhythm for coffee together. Devote a meal each week â say, Monday breakfasts or Wednesday dinners â to share with others. Plan to meet up to take walks together. Reserve an extended weekend each year to get away and enjoy Godâs creation together. 2. Drop each conversation one notch deeper. Conversations about sports and daily activities are worthwhile. But if thatâs all we talk about, itâs like snorkeling on the surface while missing the deeper wonders of the ocean. But how do we take our conversations deeper? First, ask thoughtful questions. When youâre driving to meet your friend, think about what you want to learn about him. Think about the main aspects of his life right now â his relationship with the Lord, his family, his work â and ask him about how things are going. When he shares about a challenge, ask how his internal life (his heart, his disposition toward God) is doing in the midst of this. From there, stay curious and ask more questions. Second, talk about what youâre each reading. Ask how Godâs word has convicted or encouraged him recently. Ask what book heâs recently read that helped him know God or live more faithfully as a disciple. Consider reading through Scripture or a Scripture-saturated book together and meeting to talk about it. 3. Overcome our cultural aversion to expressing affection. âLove one another with brotherly affectionâ (Romans 12:10). We donât usually put those last two words next to one another â brotherly  feels masculine; affection  feels feminine. But there they are together, inviting us to cultivate genuine, non-weird, affectionate brotherhood. We see this affectionate bond with Jonathan and David: âThe soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soulâ (1 Samuel 18:1). We see it with Paul and the Ephesian elders: âAnd there was much weeping on the part of all; they embraced Paul and kissed himâ (Acts 20:37). Expressing affection feels uncomfortable to men today because our culture has slowly shifted its understanding of masculinity. Rather than combining strength and tenderness, we view manhood as muscular and aggressive. Our culture has also sexualized love, interpreting affection between men as something other than friendship. But we can build a better way. 4. Oxygenate your friendships with affirmation. What happens without oxygen? We become sluggish and lethargic. This is what relationships feel like without affirmation. This may be why some of your relationships feel withered, thin, or tired. Affirmation is relational oxygen. One of the most powerful tools for cultivating true friendship is Romans 12:10: âOutdo one another in showing honor.â Men find it hard to give and receive honor and affirmation. It feels uncomfortable at first to tell someone why you thank God for him or why you respect him. But only at first. Iâve seen many men work through their initial hesitations and start cultivating a culture of sincere encouragement around them. And Iâve seen the other men flourish because of it. 5. Invite friends into what youâre already doing. Our schedules are full and we rush from one thing to the next. We donât see how we can find time for friends. But what if you donât need to open up your schedule? What if you can include friends into the activities you already do? Here are a few suggestions Iâve seen work: When you plan to watch a sports game or weekly show, find out who else would want to watch it and invite them to join you. If you exercise a few times each week, do it with a friend. Invite friends or family members to join you for dinner or dessert. If you have young kids, let your guests participate in the bedtime routine and then stay around afterward. If you have young kids, invite someone to join your family at the park. Put a few friends on speed dial and call them on your daily commute home. If you have a home project to complete, invite someone to help you and offer to help him with his. Hope and Help for Forging Friendship Jesus is our greatest model of male friendship. He initiated relationships and he invited men to be with him (Mark 3:14). He continually asked thought-provoking questions. He loved his disciples with brotherly affection (John 13:1). He calls us his friends (John 15:13â15). He also gives us the great privilege of reflecting and enjoying this kind of true friendship to other men. Maybe as you consider taking these steps, you look ahead with both hope and hesitancy. Maybe you think back to when you experienced deeper community and think you wonât find that again. Or maybe you still feel pain from failed attempts at connecting with others. You wonder if forging friendship is harder, even impossible, for you. Before you give up, remember two truths: First, Jesus isnât just the model for true friendship; he is himself our truest friend. He initiates friendship with us, and we receive it on terms of grace. Now âno one need ever say I have no âfriendâ to turn to, so long as Christ is in heavenâ (J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts , 3:114). And second, he delights for us to ask for true community in his name. God alone is able to create, renew, and strengthen the deepest human relationships. So, pray. Ask God to make your efforts at friendship fruitful. Then trust him, stay patient, and keep taking steps toward others in the strength he provides.
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