Voice Raps Dug Down Deep

Pastor and moonlighting hip-hop artist Curtis Allen (a.k.a. Voice ... I've always wanted to say that) has created a hip-hop, musical interpretation of the heart of Joshua Harris' new book Dug Down Deep. The result is the song "Whatever it Takes."  I'm reading the book now myself and plan to write a review very soon, but in short, this is an excellent book for new believers and mature Christians alike.  We all need a reminder of why it's important to know what we believe and why - Dug Down Deep provides that reminder in an interesting and thoughtful way.  Read Reviews of the Book • Order Online • Read the First Chapter

HT: Joshua Harris

Passion/ Purity Blog

Josh Harris, John Freeman, Paul Tripp and Dave White will be addressing various topics related to sex and sexuality in our culture on March 5-7 at the 2010 Urban Ministry Conference hosted by Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. The conference team is also hosting a blog called Passion/PurityHarvest USA leading up to the conference that features pastors from Tenth Pres and staff from addressing various topics related to sex and sexuality in our culture.

HT: Josh Harris

Worms or Cannibals

John Piper's book "Filling Up the Afflictions of Christ" which features the stories of William Tyndale, Adoniram Judson and John Paton. It is the fifth book in his "The Swans are Not Silent" series drawn from his biographical sermons. If you've never read these books or heard Piper's sermons on great saints from church history, I highly recommend them. They're also available online to read or listen to for free. I found the following story from the life of missionary John Paton compelling.

[When Paton declared his intention to take the gospel to the New Hebrides islands] a Mr. Dickson exploded, "The cannibals! You will be eaten by cannibals!" The memory of Williams and Harris on Erromanga was only 19 years old. But to this Paton responded: Mr. Dickson, you are advanced in years now, and your own prospect is soon to be laid in the grave, there to be eaten by worms; I confess to you, that if I can but live and die serving and honoring the Lord Jesus, it will make no difference to me whether I am eaten by Cannibals or by worms; and in the Great Day my Resurrection body will rise as fair as yours in the likeness of our risen Redeemer.

This is the kind of in-your-face spiritual moxie that would mark Paton's whole life. It's a big part of what makes reading his story so invigorating.

May God raise up a new generation of Christians with this kind of "spiritual moxie" and zeal for the gospel! Read the full sermon or Listen online.

HT: Joshua Harris

The Valiant Wife of Proverbs 31

Recently Joshua Harris preached from Proverbs 31, highlighting four characteristics of the valiant woman, in order of importance:

She fears the Lord.
She gives her life away.
She is capable.
She is influential.

Options:
• Listen online or download an mp3 of the message.
• Download a summary outline in PDF format.
• Use the following questions prepared by Don Devries to reflect on how to apply the message to your life.

1. A godly woman knows and fears the Lord. Is there anything you are living for--personal success, a husband, your children, etc.--more than you are living for God and His Kingdom?

2. Josh taught us that the Proverbs 31 woman is capable. How can this chapter stir godly ambitions for the Lord?

3. As Josh taught, the Proverbs 31 woman gives her life away. Is there need around you that the Lord is calling you to help meet?

4. Concerning godly womanhood, are you following what the world values or are you valuing what God says is praiseworthy?

5. In what one Proverbs 31 quality would you like to grow?

6. Men, how can you encourage, cherish and honor the values of womanhood described in Proverbs 31?

HT: Joshua Harris

Self-Control in a Wired World

1. What things are you tempted to do instead of what you should be doing? What do you fill your time with that crowds out activity of eternal value?

2. Have you feasted so much at the table of the world that your hunger for the Lord (Matthew 5:6) has diminished and your first love (Revelation 2:4) has grown cold? What can you do to rekindle that love and hunger?

3. What allowable and permissible pursuits have you allowed to rob you of your service to God's church and His kingdom? What would change look like?

4. What things have crowded your life that keep you from fruitfulness (like time in God's word, prayer, fellowship, evangelism, etc.)? What steps of repentance do you need to take to begin the process of change?

5. Paul writes in Ephesians 5:15-16a "Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time..." How can you cultivate wisdom in your use of time? How can you put the eternal pursuits above the trivial?

Listen to Joshua's sermon from Proverbs 25:28 on Self-Control here.

HT: Joshua Harris

The Sluggard By Isaac Watts

Proverbs' portrait of the sluggard is extreme, even comical. Nevertheless, laziness, in all its subtle forms, has serious consequences. You can listen to a sermon I preached on the subject. And the following is a poem by Isaac Watts based on Proverbs 24:30-34.

'Tis the voice of the sluggard; I heard him complain,
"You have waked me too soon, I must slumber again."
As the door on its hinges, so he on his bed,
Turns his sides and his shoulders and his heavy head.

"A little more sleep, and a little more slumber;"
Thus he wastes half his days, and his hours without number,
And when he gets up, he sits folding his hands,
Or walks about sauntering, or trifling he stands.

I pass'd by his garden, and saw the wild brier,
The thorn and the thistle grow broader and higher;
The clothes that hang on him are turning to rags;
And his money still wastes till he starves or he begs.

I made him a visit, still hoping to find
That he took better care for improving his mind:
He told me his dreams, talked of eating and drinking;
But scarce reads his Bible, and never loves thinking.

Said I then to my heart, "Here's a lesson for me,"
This man's but a picture of what I might be:
But thanks to my friends for their care in my breeding,
Who taught me betimes to love working and reading.

- Isaac Watts

HT: Joshua Harris

Turn Away From Evil

Proverbs 3:7 says, "Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil." Joshua Harris uses a beanbag chair to illustrate how we often fail to "turn away from evil."

Joshua Harris: Learning to Love Correction

Learning To Love Correction from Covenant Life Church on Vimeo.