Here are excerpts from some blog posts I read today that either encouraged me or flat-out made me think:
1. Michael Patton, Parchment and Pen:
You know what it feels like: you are on fire; you are ready, willing and able; you don’t need any more sermons on Rom 12:1. You are a living sacrifice; you listened to Piper’s “Doing missions when dying is gain”; you are ready to die. You are ready to die for Christ, the Gospel and whatever other mission God puts you on. Here I am Lord; I am ready. Problem: there is no altar. Well, not like you thought. If it exists, it does not exist in the glory of your perceptions. You pray continually for God to show you his direction. There has to be a place for me in his army. Here’s what you do:2. Jared Totten, Christians in Context:
(I desire to do my own review of this book soon)
Jerry Bridges wrote one of the best books I’ve ever read on Christian sanctification in Pursuit of Holiness. But if Pursuit of Holiness is Sanctification 101, then Respectable Sins is Sanctification 301. While the former book focused on the broader subject of sanctification and dealt with the more common besetting sins, the latter focuses on the more subtle sins that often go unaddressed.Before dealing with specific areas of sin, the opening chapters of Respectable Sins set the necessary foundation by addressing sin in general and the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome it. In this way, the first few chapters read like a concise summary of Pursuit of Holiness. The remainder of the book addresses issues like anxiety, unthankfulness, selfishness, and judgmentalism. Each of these chapters follows a similar formula, defining and exposing the sin before giving the reader practical steps of action against it.
The reader must be careful to read this book without any…(more here)
3. Desiring God
I was encouraged to begin to think about profitable Christmas presents by DG’s Christmas Sale: Something for Everyone. (and they mean just about everyone!)
4. Kevin DeYoung, DeYoung, Restless & Reformed:
(This post flat-out convicted me…thanks, Kevin)
Prayer is essential for the Christian, as much for what it says about us as for what it can do through God. The simple act of getting on our knees (or faces or feet or whatever) for 5 or 50 minutes every day is the surest sign of our humility and dependence on our Father in heaven. There may be many reasons for our prayerlessness—time management, busyness, lack of concentration—but most fundamentally, we ask not because we think we need not. or we think God can give not. Deep down we feel secure when we have money in the bank, a healthy report from the doctor, and powerful people on our side. We do not trust in God alone. Prayerlessness is an expression of our meager confidence in God’s ability to provide and of our strong confidence in our ability to take care of ourselves without God’s help. more here5. Dr. Bob Kellemen, Changeless Truth for Changing Times:
If you or someone you care about is struggling with anxiety, what’s our goal?You shout, “To get rid of the anxiety!”
Well, that’s a great desire. It certainly is an acceptable prayer. “Lord, if it be Thy will, remove all feelings and experiences of anxiety.”
The problem is, this side of heaven, not all feelings are “healed,” not all negative emotional experiences are “wiped away.” It’s on the other side of heaven that we have no more tears, sorrow, pain, or suffering.
There’s no guarantee that medication will eliminate anxiety. There’s no promise that talk therapy will remove all feelings of fear. There’s no pledge that biblical counseling or scriptural meditation will eliminate every negative emotion.
When anxiety is totally eliminated, that’s a special grace of God for which everyone gives thanks. But that’s not the everyday result nor should it be our ultimate goal.
Read more about the goal here…Tonight there’s a definite chill in the air, high school football game going on across the street, a fire flickering in the fireplace and a warm easy chair for my aching back. And this is just a bit of what I’ve been reading…I hope you enjoyed it as well.
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