Thoughtless Texts, Tweets, & Emails

Ever sent an email you wish you hadn't?  I have ... several times.  Emailing, texting, and tweeting are as impersonal as it gets when it comes to communicating, so it's easy to forget about the person on the other side of those e-messages.   Jonathan Dodson has an excellent post to help us send others e-love and help us save some face.  Jonathan writes: 

Emailing without thinking. We do it all the time. We fire off communication, without considering whether or not email is an appropriate form of communication. Email has become an extension of thinking instead of an expression of thoughtfulness. Without hesitation we type it out, send it, and wait for a response.

Whoops!

Some things are meant for personal communication. We’ve all had that misinterpreted email, the one that forced us to clarify, apologize, or heaven forbid, talk to the person in the flesh! Avoiding email can be wise. It can be an exercise in discernment and love. Not avoiding email can be foolish. It can be an exercise in selfishness and carelessness. Then there’s the de-civilizing nature of email. The same could be said of Blogging, Texting and Tweeting.

Read more.

HT: Jonathan Dodson

Strive to Enter His Rest

Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” Hebrews 4:11-13 ESV

Please Pray for Matt: Week 7 Update

HT: Dwell Deep

Watch Piper Preach at Mars Hill Tonight

Just a reminder that John Piper is preaching tonight at Mars Hill Church in Seattle.  The event is sold out, but no worries—they are streaming it live online.  It starts at 7pm Pacific time. (If you don't know what time that is where you live, here's the math.)

HT: Desiring God

Ministry Can Be Dangerous to Your Spiritual Health

Ministry places enormous pressures on one's integrity and character, pressures which require extra vigilance and a deeper understanding of one's need for God. And if we're not intentional about growing in our own faith, the business of ministry can steal the joy we have in Jesus. Tim Keller offers some good insights for those involved in ministry. 

HT: Redeemer City to City

How to Build Your Own God

HT: The Resurgence via Worship Matters

Two Culturally Relevanat Ways to Help You Get Into God's Word

The 411God and Powered by 4 are two great ways to help you get into God's Word everyday.  The 411 gives you a minute of the Bible in your phone each day ... how easy is that, the Bible calls you on your phone.  Powered by 4, created by Back to the Bible (which has a wealth of helpful resources available to you for free), offers a daily email with a passage from scripture and a question or two to help you apply what you've read.

The Difference in Gospel and Religion

"A perfect man would never act from a sense of duty; he’d always want the right thing more than the wrong one. Duty is only a substitute for love (of God and of other people) like a crutch which is a substitute for a leg. Most of us need the crutch at times; but of course it is idiotic to use the crutch when our own legs (our own loves, tastes, habits etc.) can do the journey on their own." (Letters of C. S. Lewis/1966, p. 277)

What is the Gospel? Interview with Greg Gilbert

You can order a copy of Greg Gilbert's, What is the Gospel?, at Crossway Books.

HT: Crossway

New Church Plant, Beauitful Vision

Breccia di Roma, a church plant in Italy supported by Redeemer Presbyterian Church of New York City, has this as their mission:

(Breccia di Roma) exists to glorify God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, living the Gospel of Jesus Christ as community of disciples and serving kingly, priestly and prophetically the city of Rome (and through it the nation of Italy) so that the Word of God may have a breakthrough to transform it.

The final goal is … the glory of God

The propelling center is … the gospel of Jesus Christ

The community envisaged is … a church of disciples

The scopes of action are …

… A kingly service to encourage responsibility

… A priestly service to bless the neighbour and the city

… A prophetic service to proclaim the Word of God

The ‘glocal’ borders are … the city of Rome and Italy

The final hope is … the transformation of the city according to the Gospel

Praise God for the gospel message and for those who are proclaiming it around the world.

HT: Redeemer City to City

Featured Resource: The Treasure Principle

Flip-Flop Your Concept of Giving!

Bestselling author Randy Alcorn introduced readers to a revolution in material freedom and radical generosity with the release of the original The Treasure Principle in 2001. Now the revision to the compact, perennial bestseller includes a provocative new concluding chapter depicting God asking a believer questions about his stewardship over material resources. Readers are moved from the realms of thoughtful Bible exposition into the highly personal arena of everyday life. Because when Jesus told His followers to "lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven," He intended that they discover an astounding secret: how joyful giving brings God maximum glory and His children maximum pleasure. Discover a joy more precious than gold!

Priceless treasure is within your reach. And with it, liberating joy. In Randy Alcorn's The Treasure Principle, you'll unearth a radical teaching of Jesus - a secret wrapped up in giving. Once you discover this secret, life will never look the same. And you won't want it to!

Why Political Conservatism is Dangerous to the Gospel

Jonathan McIntosh has a great post at rethinkmission.org about the danger of making a political ideology our Savior over Jesus.  He addresses political conservatism, but his post could just as well been entitled, "Why Political Liberalism is Dangerous to the Gospel."  My position has always been gospel + politics = politics.  I know many, many people vote based on a specific issue, looking to a political party to correct some moral failure that they perceive.  For example, some vote for conservatives who say that they are prolife, but what have conservatives done in the past thirty years on that issue to be considered anything close to credible on that ultimate, in my opinion, moral failure in our world today?  Check out Jonathan's post, it's worth your time.

HT: rethinkmission

The Power of Half

ThinkChristian.net:

An Atlanta family has received a lot of publicity for their decision to sell their big home, buy a smaller one and use the profits to help those in need. The Salwen family says it all started when their 14-year-old daughter Hannah became upset with the unequal chances for people based on their wealth. By selling their home, the family used the $800,000 to do a lot of work in two dozen villages in Ghana.

Below are two news stories about the Salwen’s, who have now written a book called “The Power of Half.”

Click over to watch some videos on the story.

HT: Vitamin Z

Stop Multi-Tasking and Start Doing One Thing Really Well

Doing two things at once, like singing while you take a shower, is not the same as instant messaging while writing a research report. Don't fool yourself into thinking you can multitask jobs that need your full attention. You're not really having a conversation while you write; you're shifting your attention back and forth between the two activities quickly. You're juggling. When you juggle tasks, your work suffers AND takes longer--because switching tasks costs.

Read more here.

Symbolism and Meaning of Ash Wednesday

How is Ash Wednesday recognized in your church?  Our service is one of my favorite of the year, not because of anything that we do specifically, but because we gather together, to begin the season of Lent, as a church family.  We don't use ashes, although part of me wishes that we did because of the power held in the symbolism of having ashes, which represent the suffering and death of Christ, marked across the forehead.  Our words are not has powerful as our symbols to help us identify with that which we are meaning to emphasize and focus upon.  What brings you to your knees more - speaking or hearing of the cross or seeing the cross?  For most of us it's seeing the cross that touches us more, which is part of the reason that The Passion of the Christ is such a powerful movie. 

I really appreciate how Brett McCracken, contributing author for Christianity Today and Relevant magazine, describes why he loves Ash Wednesday:

I love Ash Wednesday for the way that it symbolizes — so concisely — what it means to be a Christian. It’s not about being beautiful or powerful or triumphant; it’s about being scarred and humbled and sacrificial. But it’s not like this is a defeatist exercise in self-flagellation or something. No, on the contrary, to “give up” or “sacrifice” in the name of Christ is (or should be) the height of our joy. We should strive to be like Christ, “who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame…” (Hebrews 12:2). For the joy set before him… That should be why we endure suffering and embrace self-denial. It’s paradoxical and mysterious and counterintuitive—certainly. But when I feel those cold ashes spread across my forehead, it all makes some sort of wonderful sense.

Paul Tillich once said that “man’s ultimate concern must be expressed symbolically, because symbolic language alone is able to express the ultimate.” And I think in Christian sacraments and rituals (like communion, baptism, or the imposition of ashes), we can see how true this is. Ash Wednesday is more than just a day that ... kicks off the Christian period of Lent. It’s a symbol that exists within and yet points beyond the materiality and ephemera of this place and this time to the transcendent and restorative oneness of the “ultimate concern” which is God Himself.

HT: Brett McCracken

Missionary Ministers to Winter Olympic Athletes

Lord, Spit in My Eyes

Are people coming through your doors seeing, yet blind? Here's the story about one.

Swaggering.

Swaying.

Tentative.

The blind man approached Jesus.

They exchanged a few words. And then Jesus spit on the hard clay ground.

There's not a spiritual, holy way to do this. Nor is there Christ-like spitting position. Like every other man who has ever lived, he swallowed hard, and pushed up the milky phlegm and -- did it.

It was disgusting to the bystanders. It was pedestrian. Certainly it could viewed with contempt by the ruling class. And the religious leaders must have been horrified. Some King of Kings!

Jesus then bent down and pinched the now muddy soil and smeared it on the man?s cloudy eyes.

Do you want vision? Do you want to see things differently?

Often the restoration of spiritual sight can be downright ugly. It may be tough and uncomfortable and dirty. But clearing the years of ?human vision? off our sight requires scraping. Dirt requires scrubbing.

Read a longer post on this here.

HT: Redeemer City to City

What's Wrong with Twilight?

Ask Doug - What is Wrong With Twilight? from Daniel Foucachon on Vimeo.

I blogged about this same topic a few months ago.  Read my post here. 

HT: JD Greear

Praying Without Ceasing

Paul calls us in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to pray without ceasing. Lloyd-Jones said, "That does not mean that you should be perpetually on your knees, but that you are always in a prayerful condition. As you are walking along a road, or while you are working in your study, you turn frequently to God in prayer… . Above all — and this regard as most important of all — always respond to every impulse to pray. The impulse to pray may come when you are reading, when you are battling with a text. I would make an absolute law of this—always obey such an impulse. Where does it come from? It is a work of the Holy Spirit … . So never resist, never postpone it, never push it aside because you are busy. Give yourself to it, yield to it, and you will find not only that you have not been wasting time with respect to the matter with which you are dealing, but that actually it has helped you greatly in that respect."

Please Pray for Matt Chandler: Week 5 Thanksgiving

Be Romantic, Skip Valentine's Day

Nothing is less romantic than the typical canned-ham version of romance offered every February 14th. Chocolates + roses + stuffed bear + reservation at the Olive Garden = one lame night. I say forget about commercialized "love" and skip Valentine's Day altogether.  Instead, just have a date night, at home (you'd be crazy to go out and fight the crowds), with your spouse.  

Here are a few ideas to help you do something creative ...

Cook dinner at home.  Light some candles and make your own dinner.  You can go all out with a three-course meal, complete with salad, entree, and dessert, or just keep simple. Just think of it as a nice Saturday, not Valentine's Day, and nobody will be disappointed when there isn't a teddy bear the size of a small child presented as a gift.

Give a gift of yourself, not of stuff.  The best gifts aren't manufactured, shipped, purchased, and brought home. Despite the best efforts of some shrewd marketers out there, Valentine's Day is not a good enough reason in itself to break out the check book and start buying up jewelry, stuffed animals of any kind, or a heart-shaped anything. If you have your heart set on showing your love through a gift, make it an experience. Like to cook? Refer to tip #1 above, enjoy a fabulous home-cooked meal. But if cooking isn't your thing, no sweat; maybe you're an aspiring musician, write a song and serenade your girl; if the written word is your thing, then perhaps some origional poetry can help you express your love. Nothing is says, "I love you" more than giving yourself away.

Finding the Gospel in Literature

Is the gospel able to inform the way we read literature? Read this article on Dostoevsky’s The Eternal Husband.

HT: Gospel Culture

John Mayer and Manhood

A few years ago Dr. Al Mohler identified 13 Marks of Manhood (see From Boy to Man: The Marks of Manhood Part 1 and Part 2).  I appreciate Dr. Mohler sharing this wisdom, especially as a man who was raised without a father and who didn't benefit from having an example of what it means to be a man, because we live in a society that has forgotten what it means to be a man.  Not only do Dr. Mohler's comments help us judge ourselves (I know I have certainly not arrived when I compare myself to these standards), but I think they're also useful for boys to keep in mind when setting goals for who they want to be and when measuring the worthiness of the "heroes" they've adopted. 

As a fan of John Mayer and his music, I was disappointed to learn of his recent comments in an interview that included racist remarks and racy details of sex with Jessica Simpson.  For me it was a reminder that we all too often separate art from the artist and thereby excuse the behavior of our "heroes" because of how much we appreciate what they do.  Whether it's Tiger Woods or John Mayer, we have tendency in our culture to allow talent to overshadow the integrity and moral reasoning of those who make us cheer.  

How to Read 70+ Books in a Year

Scott Young shares how he went from reading 10 to 12 books a year to 70+. Here's what he says:

Over the past two years I’ve read over 120 books. If you add up partial books I read for specific segments, that number would be well over 140. But only four years ago I would have read 10-12 books per year. Although reading at least seventy books a year sounds difficult, it doesn’t require a huge investment of time.

Here’s how I did it ...

Read more.

Why Did Make Colors?

From  Red Letter Believers: 

Why did God create a world that is not only functional, but extraordinarily poetic and lovely in every way?

Author Fulton J. Sheen says it is the same reason that we find it hard to keep a secret.   “Good things are hard to keep. The rose is good, and tells its secret in perfume. The sun is good, and tells its secret in light and heart….God cannot keep the secret of His love and the telling of it was his creation.”

LeCrae's "Far Away" Music Video

HT: Desiring God

Marry Well: New Marriage Site for Christian Singles

This looks like a great resource for those of you who are pursuing marriage.  Here's what Marry Well says about itself: 

In survey after survey, singles rank marriage as one of their most important life goals. So why, according to Dr. Leon Kass, do they marry “later, less frequently, more hesitantly and by and large, less successfully?” Because they no longer have a clear path to marriage.

“For the great majority, the way to the altar is uncharted territory,” says Dr. Kass. “It’s every couple on it’s own bottom, without a compass, often without a goal. Those who reach the altar seem to have stumbled upon it by accident.”

The purpose of the Marry Well relationship service is to lay out a helpful path to marriage, by focusing on a clear goal, recommending key steps and providing encouragement and support along the way.

HT: Marry Well

The Gospel Saves from Morality

Watch John Piper (on C.S. Lewis, on William Tyndale) explain how the biblical gospel destroys morality, external conformity, and list-keeping religion: 

Pictures from Haiti

 

HT: Pearl of the West Indies

Tea With Hezbollah

Is it really possible to love one’s enemies? That’s the question that sparked a fascinating and, at times, terrifying journey into the heart of the Middle East during the summer of 2008. It was a trip that began in Egypt, passed beneath the steel and glass high rises of Saudi Arabia, then wound through the bullet- pocked alleyways of Beirut and dusty streets of Damascus, before ending at the cradle of the world’s three major religions: Jerusalem.

Tea with Hezbollah combines nail-biting narrative with the texture of rich historical background, as readers join novelist Ted Dekker and his co-author and Middle East expert, Carl Medearis, on a hair-raising journey. They are with them in every rocky cab ride, late-night border crossing, and back-room conversation as they sit down one-on-one with some of the most notorious leaders of the Arab world. These candid discussions with leaders of Hezbollah and Hamas, with muftis, sheikhs, and ayatollahs, with Osama bin Laden’s brothers, reveal these men to be real people with emotions, fears, and hopes of their own. Along the way, Dekker and Medearis discover surprising answers and even more surprising questions that they could not have anticipated—questions that lead straight to the heart of Middle Eastern conflict.

Through powerful narrative, Tea With Hezbollah will draw the West into a completely fresh understanding of those we call our enemies and the teaching that dares us to love them. A must read for all who see the looming threat rising in the Middle East.

HT: Why Do You Fear Me?

God's Power to Save

I'm currently reading God's Power to Save (buy it at Amazon UK, it's much less expensive) by Chris Green, faculty member at Oak Hill College in London.  Please go get this book, read it, and learn from it.  It's a tremendous collection of writings centered on the question, "Is it possible to have only one gospel for a complex, pluralistic world?" 

Not only do the writers to a great job of helping us understand the value of pluralism from a Biblical perspective, but also attack the point of view that there is no such thing as Truth, and therefore all perspectives are equal and worthy of acceptance.  The message of this book will help all of us who find themselves increasingly within a society where the call for  "tolerance for all" creates intolerance for those who claim to know Truth.   I highly recommend that you check out this book.

What Pastors Can Learn from "Undercover Boss"

Did you happen to catch the new reality show, "Undercover Boss," after the Super Bowl last night? I'm not normally a reality show viewer, but this show now has my interest. The first episode featured Larry O'Donnell, president and COO of Waste Management, who went undercover in his own company to see what life at work is like for his front line employees.  He picked up trash, he cleaned portable restrooms, and other tasks you'd hardly associate with men of the financial means of Larry O'Donnell.

There is much to love about this show, but throughout the episode I kept thinking, pastors can learn a whole lot from this show.   Here are three lessons I learned.

Hip Hop for Haiti: Live Stream Tonight

For those who can't make it to Hip Hop for Haiti tonight, we will be streaming the concert live online. Join the crowd in Minneapolis by watching online and by giving to Churches Helping Churches.

You can also join the crowd on Twitter using the #HH4H hashtag.

HT: Desiring God

Please Pray for Matt Chandler: Week 4 Update

HT: Dwell Deep

Tips for Watching the Super Bowl

CJ Mahaney offers four tips for watching the Super Bowl (and all sporting events) for the glory of God:

1. Strategically assign the remote.

Some prefer to turn off all the commercials; other prefer to just keep an eye on it and turn off the offensive ones. Either way, be proactive about what shows up on your TV screen. One way to do this is to assign one person (someone with both discernment and quick reflexes) to remote-control duty.” This cannot be just anybody. Throughout the game viewers are assaulted with commercials—immoral commercials, commercials that assault and offend one’s intelligence, and commercials with immodestly dressed women (which both tempt men and belittle women). These are as much a part of the Super Bowl as the game itself.

Working the remote requires skill and coordination as well as discernment. This person needs to be paying attention and anticipating commercial breaks. While everyone else enjoys the game, this person is working and always aware of what’s on the TV.

I recommend you establish on the remote an alternative channel that presents no temptation (C-SPAN for example). Turning to C-SPAN will ensure that conversation will take place.

Host a Super Bowl Party – Help Rebuild Haiti

Written by Jeff Shinabarger, founder of Gift Card Giver, and originally posted at www.plywoodpeople.com

The super bowl is the house party of the year. We know, you will be at a house watching the big screen with your friends, eating junk food, yelling for no reason and voting on what commercial was the funniest. We need you, yes you, the one with the cheese dip in your lap. While you are cheering, we need you to help us collect gift cards to help with relief efforts in Haiti. Every person has an unused gift card ($8 billion annually) and you can help do something super by collecting  those cards to support a great need. Party with a purpose. Simply, have a super giver bowl and put gift cards in it instead of chips.  When you’re wiping up soda spills and filling your dishwasher, you can throw the gift cards in an envelope to Gift Card Giver and you’ll have given your party even more purpose.  But don’t forget to tell your friends to bring their gift cards!

The Good, Bad, and Ugly of Hermeneutics

Ugly Hermeneutics

First, listen to this 9-minute clip.
 
Those who take God’s Word seriously spend many hours in study. Coming out of diligent study are lessons, sermons, articles, and books that are deep, weighty, sober, doctrinally coherent, and theologically consistent.

Sadly, today’s evangelicals aren’t known for being profound, sober-minded, or consistent; instead they’ve developed a reputation for being superficial, trivial, doctrinally erratic, and theologically naïve. Want proof? Walk into your local Christian bookstore, sample the preaching online, survey the blogs—the shoe fits.

So if the way back is to fear God, honor His Word, and work hard to understand and teach it accurately, what kinds of things are standing in the way?

Organic Family Hymnal

Do yourself a wonderful favor - buy this God glorifying CD.  You will love it! 

From Description to Prescription

A good reminder from Tim Chester: 

Think how you would summarize Ephesians 5:1 in your own words: ‘Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children.’

I wonder if your summary focused on the call to imitate God or the description of Christians as ‘dearly loved children’?

It is all too easy for us to hear only the commands of Scripture and miss the descriptions out of which they arise. The prescription to behave like God only makes sense as the outworking of the description that we are God’s children. The imperatives (commands) of the New Testament always arise out of the indicatives (description). We are already God’s dearly loved children so let’s live as God’s dearly loved children by imitating our Father.

HT: Tim Chester

By Grace Alone

Are you truly amazed by God's grace? Or have you grown accustomed to it? Yes, we sing of God's "Amazing Grace," but do you truly understand what you as a Christian have experienced in receiving the grace of God? Or do you take divine grace for granted?

In By Grace Alone: How the Grace of God Amazes Me, Dr. Sinclair B. Ferguson laments that "we have lost the joy and energy that is experienced when grace seems truly ‘amazing.'" In an effort to restore the wonder of divine grace, he reflects on it from seven angles, each built around a stanza from a rich but little-known hymn, "O How the Grace of God Amazes Me," written by Emmanuel T. Sibomana, a pastor in the African nation of Burundi.

This book poses probing questions for today's believer: "If I am not amazed by God's grace, can I really be living in it? Can I really be tasting, and savoring, and delighting in it?" But those willing to delve into God's Word with Dr. Ferguson will come away with a deeper astonishment at the depths of God's grace.

O How the Grace of God Amazes Me!

O how the grace of God

Amazes me!

It loosed me from my bonds

And set me free!

What made it happen so?

’Twas His will, this much I know,

Set me, as now I show,

At liberty.

2 My God has chosen me,

Though one of nought,

To sit beside my King

In heaven’s court.

Hear what my Lord has done

O, the love that made Him run

To meet His erring son!

This has God wrought.

3 Not for my righteousness,

For I have none,

But for His mercy’s sake,

Jesus, God’s Son,

Suffered on Calvary’s tree -

Crucified with thieves was He -

Great was His grace to me,

His wayward one.

Desiring God Pastors Conference - Watch Live Tonight!

Watch the Pastors Conference Live

If you couldn't make it Minneapolis for the Pastors Conference — whether because of the cost, the timing, or the fact that you couldn't get a visa to the US — that doesn't mean you have to miss it. We praise God for our ability this year to stream the whole conference live online.

Visit the live streaming page on our website and watch, learn, and worship with us. You can also follow along on Twitter using the #dgpascon hashtag.

Here's a refresher on the schedule:

Monday

7:00-8:30 pm Session 1: Sam Storms Audio | Video

Tuesday 

8:30-10:00 am Session 2: Eric Mason Audio | Video

10:30-11:30 am Session 3: Sam Storms Audio | Video

1:45-3:00 pm Session 4: John Piper Audio | Video

7:00-8:30 pm Session 5: Sam Storms Audio | Video

Wednesday

8:30-10:00 am Session 6: Bob Blincoe  Audio | Video

10:30-11:30am Session 7: Speaker Panel Q&A   Audio

HT: Desiring God

Death Without Dying

Jesus: “Some of you they will put to death. . . . But not a hair of your head will perish.”

In the comments below Tim Keller adds a good word about this verse:

For decades, this verse has challenged me personally. Derek Kidner in his commentaries often refers to it. It shows that modern people have a view of happiness that is defined as a life that is going well, when often the Bible defines happiness as a life that is lived well. One ounce of sin can harm us more than ten tons of suffering, because sin ruins our soul, while suffering (if handled well) only makes us more Christ-like and joyful. So Jesus is essentially saying, “I won’t keep you from suffering, but I’ll keep you in suffering so you can triumph over it.”

HT: Justin Taylor

Kill Your Curiosity

I think there's a tendency to confuse curiosity about God with a genuine wonder about God.  Curiosity is purely cerebral - it involves searching out and consuming knowledge.  Whereas wonder is an overwhelming feeling of admiration.  Of course both an increasing knowledge about God and admiration for God are involved in spiritual growth and transformation, but the two are definitely not the same.  

Jeremy Bennett at Illuminated Mind says this about curiosity:

Curiosity is over-valued in our society, and one of the top causes of distraction in our increasingly information-saturated world.

Mind you, I’m not completely opposed to curiosity. Children are curious about the world, and that’s usually a good thing! Indeed. What I am proposing, however, is a proper understanding of curiosity; what it is useful for, and some things that it is not useful for.

We are, in fact, multi-dimensional beings. This has been my experience. We have a physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspect to ourselves, and so on.

Read the rest here.

HT: Illuminated Mind

The Purpose of Family Worship

God has called His people to Himself. He has called His people together that they may love Him and worship Him. This is true in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament. Jesus said, “My Father is seeking worshipers who will worship Him in spirit and in truth.” — Deuteronomy 6:4-9

The purpose of family worship is to help husbands and wives and children and grandchildren to love and worship their Heavenly Father. Our worship is not just to take place on Sundays, but throughout the week. The Family Worship and Devotional Guide is meant to help you and your family worship our Heavenly Father during the week, by reminding you of what you saw and heard during Sunday worship with the larger body.

Creative ideas and tips on how to engage with kids in family worship:

• Make your time joyful
• Remember, it’s primarily about a relationship, not a task to scratch off
• Have fun
• Adapt as you go along – call audibles
• Do what is age and maturity appropriate
• Delegate some of the responsibilities
• Don’t take yourself too seriously
• If you fail, start again immediately
• Leave them wanting more
• Be consistent
• Pick a fun place to have it in the house and maybe rotate – closet, fort, bedroom, car, etc.

HT: PCPC

Missional Church Made Simple

HT: Tim Chester

Good Intentions Are Not Enough

Has God ever rebuked you for defending or serving Him? You might have had the best of intentions, but sometimes our intentions and convictions don’t align with God’s truth. The following devotional from My Utmost for his Highest discusses how sometimes our convictions don’t align with God’s convictions. Sometimes God needs to rebuke our good intentions so that we can serve Him in the way we should:

God has to destroy our determined confidence in our own convictions. We say, “I know that this is what I should do”-and suddenly the voice of God speaks in a way that overwhelms us by revealing the depths of our ignorance. We show our ignorance of Him in the very way we decide to serve Him. We serve Jesus in a spirit that is not His, and hurt Him by our defense of Him. We push His claims in the spirit of the devil; our words sound all right, but the spirit is that of an enemy. “He . . . rebuked them, and said, ’You do not know what manner of spirit you are of’ ” (Luke 9:55). The spirit of our Lord in His followers is described in 1 Corinthians 13.