Fun Stuff

Is reading a girly activity?

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Is reading a “girly” activity? Not according to Jeff Robinson. See his defense of why reading is also for boys.

I’m so thankful that my son Dylan loves to read. He’s only 3, but he’s already content sitting on the couch, or on the bed, or on Mommy or Daddy’s lap and looking at books for long periods of time.

I hope that Heidi – though already more active than her brother – will find a love for books as well. Last night, she sat on the floor playing with some board books and trying to eat them. I guess that’s a good start for a 9-month old.

Books

20 books

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Justin Buzzard offers a great list of 20 books to read in your 20s. What a difference it would make if the next generation would simply read and apply the material in these 20 books.

Idea: Why not get started right away by checking one of these books out from the library, or adding it to your Christmas wish list? Even if you’re past your 20s, it’s never too late to start reading good Christian literature.

HT: Justin Taylor
Photo credit: stephmcg

Uncategorized

Fishing with finesse

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Recently, I saw a local “Christian” picketer carry a sign with these words: “Life without Jesus is Hell.” Now, this statement does have a degree of truth, but what message does this really send to the unbeliever? Is it possible for Christians to share about the exclusivity of Christ and the offense of the cross without preaching “hellfire and damnation” and provoking our neighbors to wrath?

The Sola Panel is doing an interesting series right now on the challenges of personal evangelism. Here’s an excerpt which captures the dilemma Christians face:

We want to tell people of the gracious loving Father who has given up his Son to make them his children, but evangelists are perceived as narrow-minded, bigoted, moralistic ratbags who infringe upon other’s civil rights.

Later, they observe,

Fishing requires a certain subtlety and finesse. We could blast the river with a few kilos of nitro, but that’s not exactly fishing.

Read the whole thing here.

Theology

Thankful for God’s amazing grace

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“Where sin abounded, grace abounded much more” (Rom. 5:20, NKJV)

This Thanksgiving, I’m thankful for the boundless grace of God. My sin is like a deep abyss. It’s an infinite debt I cannot begin to repay. It’s an incomprehensible offense against a holy God. Yet I know God has poured out His infinite grace upon me through His Son.

A.W. Tozer writes,

We can never know the enormity of our sin, neither is it necessary that we should. What we can know is that ‘where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.’ To ‘abound’ in sin: that is the worst and the most we could or can do. The word abound defines the limit of our finite abilities; and although we feel our iniquities rise over us like a mountain, the mountain, nevertheless, has definable boundaries: it is so large, so high, it weighs only this certain amount and no more. But who shall define the limitless grace of God? Its ‘much more’ plunges our thoughts into infinitude and confounds them there. All thanks be to God for grace abounding. (The Knowledge of the Holy, pp. 95-96)

Shepherding

A call to love God

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Today is the next installment in my series of posts on the mission statement of our church. As a reminder, our mission is “to make disciples of Jesus Christ who love God and love people, by reaching and teaching everyone.“

I’ve already written on the importance of a clearly defined ministry goal and the definition of a disciple of Jesus Christ. Now we’ll move along to the marks of a genuine disciple.

There are two distinguishing marks of a disciple of Jesus. One is a love for God. The other is a love for people. If you claim to be a Christian, these two things should increasingly characterize your life.

Above all, a disciple must have a love for God. All other Christian virtues, emotions, and duties stem from this root of love. When a religious leader asked Jesus, “Which is the great commandment in the Law?” Jesus answered without hesitation that it is a love for God. He said, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matt. 22:37). This is a genuine, all-consuming, love for God that is so strong that all other relationships, by comparison, are viewed with contempt (Matt. 10:37).

Jonathan Edwards calls love “the chief of all affections, and fountain of all other affections” and believes “the essence of all true religion lies in holy love.” He goes on to say,

From a vigorous, affectionate, and fervent love to God, will necessarily arise other religious affections; hence will arise an intense hatred and abhorrence of sin, fear of sin, and a dread of God’s displeasure, gratitude to God for his goodness, complacence and joy in God, when God is graciously and sensibly present, and grief when he is absent, and a joyful hope when a future enjoyment of God is expected, and fervent zeal for the glory of God. (Religious Affections)

Likewise, Alexander Strauch writes,

Above all things, we should seek to increase our knowledge and enjoyment of Christ and deepen our love for him (Phil. 3:8-14). After all, the deeper our love for him the more we will become like him in love and the more we will be able to teach others to love. (Leading With Love, 30)

Love of God is the greatest commandment, the essence of true religion, the fountain of religious affection, and the mark of a true disciple. How is your love for God? Is it growing or waning? Have you, like the Ephesians, begun to leave your first love (Rev. 2:4)? Consider the following questions:

  • Are you growing in your knowledge of God? We can’t expect to love Someone we don’t know.
  • Are you growing in your fellowship with God? We can’t expect to love Someone we don’t spend time with.
  • Are you growing in your obedience to God? We can’t expect to love Someone we ignore.
  • Are you growing in your disdain for sin? We can’t expect to love Someone who we enjoy rejecting and offending.
  • Are you growing in your appreciation for the cross? We can’t expect to love Someone if we forget their greatest demonstration of love toward us (Rom. 5:8).
  • Are you sure that you are a Christian? We can’t expect to love God unless He has first loved us (1 Jn. 4:19).

How marvelous is our God, and how worthy of our love! Let us develop daily a deeper love for God in heart, soul, mind and strength. Let us be satisfied with Him, enthralled with Him, and completely devoted to Him. May He become our portion, our passion, and the sole object of our affection. In so doing, we will prove to be Christ’s disciples.

Thoughts on Life and Leadership