If I'm Happy With Jésus, Why Do I Need Jesus?

Jesus from Alex Amerri on Vimeo.

"My life is good, I'm happy, and I just don't feel the need for Christ," is a common response to the gospel of Jesus Christ. And if that's all Christianity is, something to be added to life to bring about some extra happiness, then I would agree wholeheartedly, you don't need Jesus - in fact Jésus would be a viable alternative, especially if he'll mow your grass for you. However, happiness is not the message of the gospel (that might surprise you). Do yourself a favor, before you run off and have a beer with Jésus and dismiss your need for Jesus, read the gospel, and ask yourself, "Is this talking about something more than finding happiness?" And if you have a few extra moments, you might be interested to know that you're not the first person to ask, "Why do I need Jesus?"

Please Pray for Matt Chandler: Week 3 Update

 

HT: Dwell Deep

The Smell of a Pastor

Phillip Fletcher  reminds us that Jesus, being the Good Shepherd, seeks to intimately know His sheep.  He desires to be with them and to know them intimately, so much so that, like any shepherd, he most likely took on the aroma of His sheep.  Fletcher asks, "The leper that Jesus touched, was his aroma fragrant like a rose or the aroma of decaying flesh?  What did Jesus smell like, as He went in and among the people that needed repentance and hope and then left them to travel to others?  And how should shepherds (pastors) smell?"  

Read more here.

HT: Redeemer City to City

Coal Train Railroad: New Jazz Album for Kids

Thanks to Abraham Piper for introducing me to this new jazz album for kids. My daughter loves listening and dancing to the Coal Train tunes and I have to admit I like it too. I highly recommend this album to those of you with little ones around.

HT: 22 Words

Cravings, Conflict, and Marriage

Conflicts are to be expected in marriage. But why do they happen in even the most mature marriages?

At a recent monthly gathering with the Pastors College students and their wives, C.J. abbreviated his sermon on James 4:1–3 and shared a recent example of how the passage protected his marriage from conflict during a date night.

Listen to C.J.’s 7-minute message here:

Cravings, Conflict, and Marriage

C.J. Mahaney

Dec. 4, 2009

7 minutes

Download here (7.9 MB)

HT: C.J. Mahaney

Eight Rules for Good Writing from C. S. Lewis

In 1959, an American schoolgirl appealed to C. S. Lewis for writing advice, and he sent her a list of eight rules for good writing:

1. Turn off the radio [and television].
2. Read good books and avoid most magazines.
3. Write with the ear, not the eye. Make every sentence sound good.
4. Write only about things that interest you. If you have no interests, you won't ever be a writer.
5. Be clear. Remember that readers can't know your mind. Don't forget to tell them exactly what they need to know to understand you.
6. Save odds and ends of writing attempts, because you may be able to use them later.
7. You need a well-trained sense of word-rhythm, and the noise of a typewriter will interfere.
8. Know the meaning of every word you use.

It occurs to me that Lewis' advice centers on two themes - block out interference from the outside world while writing and have a keen connection to the outside world while not writing.  It makes sense doesn't it?  Writing, at least good writing, involves a process that requires focus, but also needs interesting content, which cannot be obtained without a connection to what is going on in the world around us (including to good writing from others).  It's the same with preaching and living out the Christian life - both require focus and are incomplete without a connection to others, Christian and non-Christian, living around us.  

The Perpetuity and Change of the Sabbath

Here's a little light reading for your Friday.  Jonathan Edwards, in his sermon The Perpetuity and Change of the Sabbath, says this about taking about observing the Sabbath:

"It is sufficiently clear, that it is the mind of God, that one day of the week should be devoted to rest, and to religious exercises, throughout all ages and nations."

Is there any practice in Christianity today that is observed less than taking a day to solely rest and place focus upon God alone?  


The rest of Edwards' sermon can be read here.

Barrs’ Seven Principles of Evangelism

Jerram Barrs’ The Heart of Evangelism, concludes with seven principles of evangelism:

1. Show respect. “We can never look down on anyone as unworthy of our love, honor and respect of we would be disqualifying ourselves.” (194) “So often as Christians we behave as if we everything to give to the non-Christian and nothing to receive.” (199)

2. Build bridges for the Gospel. “[Unbelievers] are in the image of God because that is the way God made them. Consequently, there will always be contact points for the believer to find.” (206) “Every human being is religious in the sense that he or she puts his or her trust in something…The challenge for us is to find out where the person’s trust lies.” (208)

3. Understand what others’ believe. “…caricaturing or misrepresenting the ideas of unbelievers will be no help to us. It will simply alienate people, for they will rightly be offended by our failure to treat their beliefs seriously. As well as failing to show respect, we will make our work more difficult by unnecessarily wounding their pride.” (212)

Ten Reasons Why Churches Stall

1. The church forgets who we are and what we are for … When we forget that we are the community of disciples for declaring God’s greatness and making disciples, mission quickly becomes just one among many activities rather than the defining vision of who we are as a community.

2. The majority of believers are no longer thrilled with the Lord and what he is doing in their lives. When questions like ‘What is God doing with you at the moment?’ cease to be common currency, it is a sure sign of creeping spiritual mediocrity.

3. … In my view, the single biggest cause of stalled churches in the UK is the belief that material comfort can be normative for Christians. It is the opposite of radical commitment to Christ.

4. When [Christians] see church as one among many leisure activities, usually low down the priority list. They are unlikely to see the Christian community as God’s great hope for the world and unlikely to put commitment above self-interest.

5. … Where people take no personal responsibility for their own spiritual growth a stalled church becomes more likely.

Read the rest here.

HT: Tim Chester

Christianity's Irresolvable Tension

There's a tension in Christianity that escapes man's ability to reason with it. That we are more deplorable than we care to admit, and yet more prized than we can imagine. Jesus’ suffering proves that. Those truths seem impossible to hold simultaneously. Yet their apparent irreconcilability yields a more profound and believable truth: this eminently just God is undeniably for us. That’s why the “love of Christ controls us” (2 Cor. 5:14).

Steve Brown on Why Pastors Need a Mean Streak

I fully expect to go into an airport sometime and find three rest rooms: one for men, one for women, and one for clergy. Our image—and thus, God’s—is sissified. - Steve Brown.

Pastors today are generally thought of as soft, caring, gentle girly-men.  In the words of Michael Jackson, the mantra of many pastors is, "I'm a lover, not a fighter."  

Here is an excerpt of a classic article from Steve Brown in which he encourages pastors to develop a mean streak:

I spend a portion of my time teaching seminary students, and one of the pastoral traits I urge my students to develop is, for lack of a better term, a "mean streak." All too often in American churches, pastors have become sitting ducks for neurotic church members (and they are a small minority). If people don’t like the way a pastor parts his hair or ties his tie, they feel free to tell him. If they don’t like his wife’s dress because it clashes with the curtains in the church, they tell him. You wouldn’t believe the comments on my beard I have received over the years! Some people feel free to criticize and correct pastors on things for which they’d never think of criticizing anyone else.

The Bible Isn't Boring. Avatar Is Boring!

HT: Desiring God

Are You Shocked By Sin?

Stephen Altrogge has good post at the Blazing Center helps us process how we should react to sins committed by non-Christians.  I had a similar conversation with a friend recently about how to respond to sin committed by non-Christians in the workplace without putting our jobs and relationships with co-workers at-risk.  Stephen offers two questions to help us consider how we commonly react when others sin:

Are you ever turned off by other people’s sins?

How should we relate to non-Christians who are enslaved by sin?

Read the rest here.

What Object Defines Our Time?

Yesterday I blogged about the BBC's new project a history of human civilization through 100 objects. And how one of the attractive aspects of the project was that anyone can contribute their own object.  Since then I've been asking myself, "What object defines our culture and our time in history?"  I don't think there's any question that the "object" that defines our time in history is the human female body. Photographic and video images of nude women dominate the internet, are used to sell every possible kind of product, and serve as a measuring stick by which young girls determine their own self worth.  The female body is the idol of our time.  It has become so objectified that it's changed the very nature of sex, which is no longer the shared experienced that God designed it to be, but now an action upon to be taken upon an object (i.e., masturbation, pornography, rape).  

My contribution to the history through objects project: the female body.  What would you choose?     

50 Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Children Do

There's no question that there is a tendency among parents to remove all struggles from their children's lives and protect them from anything and everything that might potentially harm them.  Before my daughter was born I used to criticize parents for this, but it's different now that I stand on the other side of the fence.  Still, we need to find a balance between protecting our kids and allowing them to explore, have fun, and experience difficulties that will help them learn and grow.  "Fifty Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Children Do," know doubt picks up on our over-protective tendencies, offering some "dangerous" things we can do with our children that are interesting, eye-opening, enlightening or just plain fun! 

Here's what the authors have to say about danger: 

"And while there are aspects of danger in virtually everything we do, the trick is to learn how mastery actually minimizes danger. Walking is dangerous when we start as babies, but we persevere and it becomes safe. Next we learn to negotiate stairs. Why stop there? Why not practice and become proficient at walking on the roof or walking on a tightrope? These are just a few of the Fifty Dangerous Things that we invite you to try."  

Check out the website for the book, fiftydangerousthings.com

HT: 22 Words

Gospel in Life // Coming March 2010

Gospel in Life is an intensive survey course exploring how the gospel changes our hearts, brings us into community, and is lived out in the world.  This eight-session small group course includes a DVD of Timothy Keller’s teaching for each session as well as a detailed study guide which features Bible studies, discussion questions, quotations from literary sources, and home study work. It is designed for both lay people and ministers and will be available in March 2010.

Table of Contents
Week 1: City - The World That Is
Week 2: Heart - Three Ways to Live
Week 3: Idolatry - The Sin Beneath The Sin
Week 4: Community - The Clue To Change
Week 5: Witness - An Alternate City
Week 6: Work - Cultivating The Garden
Week 7: Justice - A People For Others
Week 8: Eternity - The World That Is To Come

View a Sample Home Study

HT: Redeemer City to City

BBC Looks at Two Million Years of Our Stuff

"What makes us human? It's our stuff." The BBC looks at a history of human civilization through 100 objects. The cool part, you can contribute your own object.  

Here's the amazing statement that the BBC makes about the Bible:

"It is a book that tells us about the God that made us and what he wants from His creation. It tells us about the beauty of that creation, it tells us of the mess that man has made of it and it tells us of God's plan to right man's wrongs and to re-establish the wonder of His initial design. It gives us the hope to keep us going in these challenging times."

Rend Collective Experiment // Movements Video

Buy their new CD here.

Redeemer City to City

Exciting news for those encouraged by the ministry of Tim Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church.  Their Planting Center has become Redeemer City to City. You can grab their RSS feed, check out resources, follow them on Twitter, befriend on Facebook, and check out their Flickr and Vimeo accounts. Some really good stuff there.

HT: Reformissionary

Hip Hop For Haiti

Don’t Waste Your Life is partnering with Reach Records, Lamp Mode Records, and 3 Degrees to host a benefit concert to help the churches in Haiti rebuild and reach out again. Christian hip hop artists Lecrae, DJ Official, Flame, Json, and DJ Essence will be performing at this concert. In addition to the ticket price, there will be several opportunities to give throughout the night. 100% of the proceeds, from the tickets, merchandise, and all other gifts, will go directly to Churches Helping Churches. 

This concert will take place at 3 Degrees (Downtown Minneapolis, MN) on February 5 at 8pm. Ticket price is $10.

Raised With Christ

Raised With Christ: How The Resurrection Changes Everything from Adrian Warnock on Vimeo.

Adrian Warnock's recently published book, Raised With Christ: How The Resurrection Changes Everything, exhorts Christians not to neglect the resurrection in their teaching and experience. He takes his cue from Acts, where every recorded sermon focuses on Jesus’ resurrection. He stresses that Christians who faithfully proclaim both the death and the bodily resurrection of Jesus, and live out the implications of that message in vibrant, grace-filled churches, will be enabled to reach a world that lives in death’s dark shadow. The power of the risen Christ is active in every true Christian, transforming our lives.

Get a free sample chapter from this book that sets out why Warnock believes we have been neglecting the resurrection. And visit the website for the book, with related study material and a sermon from Adrian, here.

Questioning God over Haiti

Jonathan Dodson posted some helpful thoughts over at The Resurgence for those wondering how God can allow something like the devastation recently witnessed in Haiti to occur. Below is a portion of Jonathan's post:

The suffering of the Haiti tragedy is immense and heart-breaking, and brings to mind so many questions. Those who claim Christian faith are often the first to question or be questioned in times like these. In a stimulating BBC Magazine article entitled, "Why Does God Allow Natural Disasters," philosopher David Bain recently raised a key question based on an age-old syllogism:

"Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is impotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Whence then is evil?"

How Can an All-Good, All-Powerful God Permit Haiti?

Bain argues that the implications of this syllogism lead us to conclude that either

* God is good but not all-powerful

* God is evil and all-powerful

* There is no God

Without Him, What Are You?

"For without you, what am I to myself 
but the leader of my own destruction?" 

                                           -Augustine

Is God Calling You to Leave Your Church?

You show up at church every week, sing the songs, hear the sermon, and place money in the offering plate. But the whole time, you feel as if you’re just going through the motions out of habit and obligation. You’re not connecting to God or other people there, and you’re not motivated to participate in the mission.

So you think about leaving, but then you feel guilty. After all, you love God. And He must want you to stay at your church, right? Maybe not. He might actually be calling you to leave. Here’s how you can respond to the frustration you feel:

Pay attention to your yearnings. Acknowledge the reality of what’s making you feel frustrated at your church, and listen to your longings for something more. Don’t dismiss your yearning for a better church experience; realize that your concerns may very well be valid.

Models of Scripture Memory

My church just recently entered year two of using the Fighter Verse Memory System as our church-wide program for memorizing scripture and it has been both personally challenging and rewarding.  Challenging because it really is hard work to memorize scripture week after week.  Most weeks it's a labor of love, but there are times when memorizing scripture takes a backseat to the craziness of life. But more than anything, I have found the the Fighter Verse system very rewarding. Putting scripture to memory strengthens your faith and helps you fight sin.  

If you're someone, like me, who has always wanted to memorize scripture but never got around to actually doing it, this system will help you preserve and reap the rewards of arming yourself with God's word.

Desiring God recently posted two models of memorizing scripture.  Very inspiring!

John Piper reciting the whole book of Philippians for his congregation during a sermon on Scripture meditation and memory.

Jon Bloom, Desiring God's Executive Director, recited the book of Hebrews as a sermon for his church.

Sam Crabtree, Executive Pastor at Bethlehem and Desiring God board member, recited the Sermon on the Mount at Bethlehem's 2010 Fighter Verse Kickoff event.

HT: Desiring God

The Gospel Need

Only 17.5% of Americans attend church on any given weekend. In 1900, there were 28 churches for every 10,000 Americans. In 2004, there were only 11 for every 10,000. It’s estimated that just to keep pace with population growth, we need to increase the rate we are planting churches tenfold. If we want to see our cities reached with the gospel, we need to fill them with gospel-centered churches. Internationally, there are over 3400 unreached unengaged people groups in the world. These are people who have no local church, no access to the Gospel in their culture

“The only way to truly be sure that you are creating permanent new Christians is to plant new churches.” - Tim Keller

For God's Sake, Blog!

Even the Pope is blogging now!  VATICAN CITY – For God’s sake, blog! Pope Benedict told priests on Saturday, saying they must learn to use new forms of communication to spread the gospel message.

How do you initiate Gospel conversations?

How do you initiate Gospel conversations with people you interact with on a daily basis?

Recommendations from J. D. Greer:

I frequent the same places. People in our society don't respond well to strangers, so I try to eat, drink coffee, buy gas, get my car worked on, and shop, etc at the same places. Relationship is not essential for evangelism, but it sure helps. At most of those places I mentioned people know me by name. Inevitably a chance comes up to pray for them, ask about their lives, invite them to church, etc. For example, several of the people from my local coffee shop have started to come to our church, and a few have become believers and gotten baptized. My mechanic has recently attended our church.

What Happens When You Unplug from Your Internet Addiction?

Brittney Ancell at the99percent recently challenged herself to break free from the internet for two weeks.  Technology in general, and the internet in particular, is definitely an idol in our culture today and breaking free from it is no easy task. Could you do it? Here's part of her experience:

Day 1: Begrudging Compliance

I awoke in the morning slightly annoyed that I was unable to view those 43 pending emails that glowed red on my iPhone as I was turning off my alarm. But, alas, I had a new life to live! While walking to the subway, I felt great about an undistracted opportunity to soak up the sights. I actually noticed things I had failed to see on the route I’d been walking for a year and a half. Not a bad start.

Please Pray for Matt Chandler: Week 2 Update

HT: Dwell Deep

Abortion: The Moral Issue of Our Day

Below are streaming video links to Dr. R.C. Sproul's series, Abortion  (originally recorded in 1990). If you would like to be able to present an intelligent, well-reasoned defense of the unborn without engaging in a shouting match, this series can help.

What Are the Key Issues?
How Sacred Is Human Life?
When Does Life Begin?
What Is the Relationship of Church and State?
What About Those Who Demand Their Rights?
What Is Your Verdict?

"From my perspective the number one ethical issue that this nation has ever faced is the issue of abortion. Abortion is not a matter of private choice--not for the Christian who understands anything about the sanctity of life. The first century church made it very clear in their day, explicitly stating that abortion is murder.   - R.C. Sproul

HT: Ligonier

Abortion is About God

HT: Desiring God

Today is the 37th Anniversary of Roe vs. Wade

In the United States: 
1 baby is aborted every 26 seconds
137 babies are aborted every hour
3,304 babies are aborted every day
23,196 babies are aborted every week
100,516 babies are aborted every month
1.2 millions babies are aborted every year

Praying With Your Spouse

I'm sure you've heard before that married couples who pray together on a consistent basis have a divorce rate of less than 1%.  However, according to Focus on the Family, 95% of pastors do not pray with their spouse on a regular basis - and while I'm not sure what the percentage is for Christian couples in general, it's probably a safe bet that about the same percentage of married couples lacking consistent prayer in their relationships too.  

Of course we don't need statistics to tell us that building a foundation of prayer within our marriages strengthens it.  The Bible tells us  that "A cord of three is not easily broken" (Ecc. 4:12); prayer strengthens our marriage and protects it. 

Typography

Typography from Ronnie Bruce on Vimeo.

HT: JD Greer

Haiti (and the World) Needs Our Prayers and Help

The pictures we see of how the evolving situation in Haiti has certainly motivated much prayer and outpouring of support for the people who are fighting, sometimes literally, for their very survival. This is encouraging, but it's also sad to see just how bad things have to get in a developing country before the rest of the world takes notice and, more importantly, takes action to help. Haiti was a devastating place of poverty and hunger before the earthquakes, but I don't remember reading any articles about that in newspapers and magazines or seeing newscasters from our major media networks rushing to the island nation to shine light on conditions there. I also don't remember mega-church pastors, or even those in small local congregations, offering prayers and support for the people of Haiti. Why is that?

Mentoring Like Jesus

In Mentor Like Jesus, Regi Campbell questions all conventional thinking about mentoring by simply looking at the example of Jesus. He says:

We have visualized Jesus as CEO, Jesus as an environmentalist, and even thought about what Jesus’ politics might have been. But in reality … in history … regardless of your religious beliefs, Jesus was a mentor.

He describes eleven characteristics of what he calls Next Generation Mentoring, which include:

1. It is on purpose. Mentoring is an intentional relationship that is unlike any other. Regi says it is not about knowing something. That is education. It is not about learning to do to something. That is training. Mentoring is about showing someone how to be something.
   

Pray for Matt Chandler: Week 1 Update

How to Prepare for Spiritual Warfare

If you would endeavor, like men of courage, to stand in the battle, surely we would feel the favorable assistance of God from heaven. For who He giveth us occasion to fight, to the end we may get the victory, is ready succor those that fight manfully, and do trust in His grace. — Thomas à Kempis

Pray Always

Paul tells us to pray "at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints" (Eph. 6:18). We must develop a lifestyle of prayer. Even when we aren't praying out loud, we can still be in a state of union and intimacy with the Lord.

Proverbs: Marriage

Mark Driscoll preaches on the topic of marriage from the book of Proverbs.

HT: Mars Hill Church

Enjoy Those 11 Minutes

An NFL game is 60 minutes by the rulebook. It takes at least 3 hours on the air. How much of this time involves actual play on the field? A recent study says about 11 minutes.

According to a Wall Street Journal study of four recent broadcasts, and similar estimates by researchers, the average amount of time the ball is in play on the field during an NFL game is about 11 minutes.

In other words, if you tally up everything that happens between the time the ball is snapped and the play is whistled dead by the officials, there’s barely enough time to prepare a hard-boiled egg. In fact, the average telecast devotes 56% more time to showing replays.

So what do the networks do with the other 174 minutes in a typical broadcast? Not surprisingly, commercials take up about an hour. As many as 75 minutes, or about 60% of the total air time, excluding commercials, is spent on shots of players huddling, standing at the line of scrimmage or just generally milling about between snaps. In the four broadcasts The Journal studied, injured players got six more seconds of camera time than celebrating players. While the network announcers showed up on screen for just 30 seconds, shots of the head coaches and referees took up about 7% of the average show.

Americans love football. But there is actually very little of it during a game.

Football—at least the American version—is the rare sport where it’s common for the clock to run for long periods of time while nothing is happening. After a routine play is whistled dead, the clock will continue to run, even as the players are peeling themselves off the turf and limping back to their huddles. The team on offense has a maximum of 40 seconds after one play ends to snap the ball again. A regulation NFL game consists of four quarters of 15 minutes each, but because the typical play only lasts about four seconds, the ratio of inaction to action is approximately 10 to 1.

So enjoy those 660 seconds, that 1/6 of an hour, that 1 moment of action for 10 moments of inaction. But while you are on the couch this weekend try to do something productive during the commercials.

HT: Kevin DeYoung

The 51% Rule

Perfectionism is tyranny. A prison.

Francis Schaeffer observed that life can't be measured by giant leaps and sudden progress. Forward motion can only be measured in steady steps. Why? 1) We can control them. 2) We can visualize them. 3) They generate less fear.

This is a good reminder as we consider the resolutions we've made — and the students we invest in.

Pretend one of your goals for 2010 is to write a book. You love the idea, though you've never attempted it. Where to begin? It's not likely you'll dash off ninety thousand words after supper. But you can "choose a topic" or "buy a pen."

If you can picture a 51% chance of achieving today's piece of the goal, you can achieve the whole thing.

A friend resolved to pray for all the students in his group. He listed their names on two pages, front and back. Think he'll pray for them all every day? Neither do we.

His wife wrote their names on index cards, one per card. She'll grab a card each day and carry it around, praying for that student throughout the day. Think that'll happen?

Review the goals you've set for your ministry this year. Are you 51% convinced you can achieve them? If not, they're too cumbersome. Break them up and make them happen.

HT: YOUthwork University

Are You A Gospel Maniac?

I introduced a friend to Matt Chandler and his DVD-based study of Philippians and recently I asked him how his Sunday School was liking the study. He said, "He's a little too ... ." "Intense?" I asked. Now there's an understatement. Matt Chandler is a lot of things, but calm, especially while preaching the gospel, is not one of them. After the conversation I thought, "How many preachers have I heard described as "intense"? I could only come up with three: John Piper, Mark Driscoll, and now Matt Chandler. I suppose there are more (would you say CJ Mahaney is intense?), but there are few in comparison to the number of calm, safe preachers. Why is that?

Keller: Global Cities Initiative

From the Redeemer Church Planting Center:

The Global Cities Initiative Conference took place in New York City on September 9 - 11, 2009. Over 80 cities were represented by ministry leaders and church planters, and the experience culminated in the signing of a covenant (found in a link to the right under "Related Media.")

Tim Keller gave three plenary addresses at GCI, which you can stream by clicking on the titles to the right (or download by right-click). Also to the right are downloadable pdfs of the outlines of these talks, which were distributed at the conference. The talks were:

September 9th - "Gospel Renewal"
September 10th - "City Focus"
September 11th - "Movements & Ecosystems"

The conference was hosted by Redeemer Church Planting Center in partnership with Transform World Connections, which was founded and is currently led by Luis Bush.

Links to the audio and PDF's...

• Gospel Renewal
• City Focus
• Movements & Ecosystems
• The GCI Covenant
• Gospel Renewal PDF
• City Focus PDF
• Movements & Ecosystems PDF

Why Are We All So Easily Offended?

Let me start with the caveats. Many people suffer at the hands of others. The world can be unfair, at times mercilessly so. Millions of people in the world are genuine victims, right now. All of us will be at some point, whether it’s for small matters or large, for a long duration or short.

But we aren’t all victims, not all the time anyway, not for everything.

Offendedness is just about the last shared moral currency in our country. And, I’m sorry, but it’s really annoying. We don’t discuss ideas or debate arguments, we try to figure out who is most offended. Buddhists are offended by Brit Hume. Christians are offended that critics disparage Brit Hume. Republicans are offended by Harry Reid’s comments about President Obama. If the shoe were on the other partisan foot, you can bet Democrats would be offended for President Obama (who can legitimately be offended by Reid’s remarks). Whenever someone makes a public gaffe, whether real or perceived, critics storm the microphones to let the world know how offended they are. Why is everyone in such a hurry to be hurt?

Read more.

HT: Kevin DeYoung

Remembering God

“We are simple people. You can’t remember ten things at once. Invariably, if you could remember just ONE true thing in the moment of trial, you’d be different. Bible ‘verses’ aren’t magic. But God’s words are revelations of God from God for our redemption. When you actually remember God, you do not sin. The only way we ever sin is by suppressing God, by forgetting, by tuning out his voice, switching channels, and listening to other voices. When you actually remember, you actually change. In fact, remembering is the first change.”

- David Powlison

HT: Vitamin Z

How Can We Reach Out to Others?

"I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." - Romans 12:1-2

At my church we've been talking about making a commitment to pray for and reach out to others who don't know Jesus. Most churches talk about this same goal and most Christians know that the Bible commands us to share our faith with others through words and deeds. Unfortunately however, outreach and evangelism in the American church today rarely moves beyond talk; not because of a desire to disobey God, but rather because we either don't know how to share our faith or we fail to act courageously when opportunities to witness to others arise.

Going to Him in Prayer

Faith in the gospel leads the Christian to planned private prayer in at least 3 ways:

1. Because we trust in Jesus as our Lord and know he is for us, we gladly do what he tells us.
2. Because we trust in Jesus as our Treasure, we have tasted and seen that he is good, and so we are eager to get more of him.
3. Because we trust in Jesus as our Savior, we know that every true need we have has been purchased for us already, and so we don't come to him in prayer to purchase but to receive.

HT: Desiring God

Save Me, O My God

A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son.

3:1 O Lord, how many are my foes!
Many are rising against me;
2 many are saying of my soul,
there is no salvation for him in God. Selah [4]

3 But you, O Lord, are a shield about me,
my glory, and the lifter of my head.
4 I cried aloud to the Lord,
and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah

5 I lay down and slept;
I woke again, for the Lord sustained me.
6 I will not be afraid of many thousands of people
who have set themselves against me all around.

7 Arise, O Lord!
Save me, O my God!
For you strike all my enemies on the cheek;
you break the teeth of the wicked.

8 Salvation belongs to the Lord;
your blessing be on your people! Selah

How Do You Plan to Read the Bible in 2010?

Read Daily Online

The ESV Bible Reading Plans are awesome. Daily readings can show up in your email, by RSS feed, on your cell phone…anyway you connect, this provides a way to fit it in.

Use the Plan in the ESV Study Bible

Download the plan or buy a Study Bible and use the chart in the back (page 2743). With this plan there are four readings each day, divided into four main sections:

• Psalms and Wisdom Literature
• Pentateuch (first 5 books of the OT) and the History of Israel
• Chronicles and Prophets
• Gospels and Epistles

The Discipleship Journal Reading Plan

The DJ Plan puts you in one primary book at a time (rather than trying to follow 3 or 4 story lines from different books) and it gives you days off to catch up or go back to something you’ve already read.

• the first reading alternatives between OT and NT books (about 3-4 chapters a day), with the Gospels spread throughout the year
• the second reading is about a chapter a day of the wisdom literature and Isaiah

One more option is to download and use the Engage plan from The Journey in St. Louis.

So…what’s your plan?

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