December 2011
43 posts
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Earnestly I Seek The LORD
Psa. 63:0-8 A PSALM OF DAVID, WHEN HE WAS IN THE WILDERNESS OF JUDAH.
O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
So I will bless...
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Lead Me To The Rock
Psa. 61:0-8 ¶ TO THE CHOIRMASTER: WITH STRINGED INSTRUMENTS. OF DAVID.
Hear my cry, O God,
listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth I call to you
when my heart is faint.
Lead me to the rock
that is higher than I,
for you have been my refuge,
a strong tower against the enemy.
Let me dwell in your tent forever!
Let me take refuge under the shelter of your wings! Selah
For you, O...
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Wedding Bells And Old Friends
Susan, Isabella, and I leave for Celebration, Florida today. The Sunshine state is calling for two wonderful purposes.
First, my best friend is getting married. He has found an amazing woman and they will begin married life together on Thursday evening. I am so happy for him, and grateful for God’s grace that we will be there and part of the celebration.
Second, I am privileged to have...
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Watch[Insert Title That Makes Watching This Video Irresistable]
Too exhausted after a full week, and my brain won’t work to come up with a title to make you watch this video. So let me just say, please watch this video on bad Christian art and good theology, so that we stop..
“…manipulating God to make him fit into predictable, manageable paradigms. That’s not good art,...
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The LORD Upholds Your Life
TO THE CHOIRMASTER: WITH STRINGED INSTRUMENTS. A MASKIL OF DAVID, WHEN THE ZIPHITES WENT AND TOLD SAUL, “IS NOT DAVID HIDING AMONG US?”
O God, save me by your name, and vindicate me by your might. O God, hear my prayer; give ear to the words of my mouth. For strangers have risen against me; ruthless men seek my life; they do not set God...
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Surprised By Oxford
I don’t think it makes sense to pick a “best book I’ve read this year.” I mean, how fair is that? Different authors, different genres, different emotions as you move throughout the year. Can there really be a “best” book?
That said, let me play the hypocrite. I think the best book I may have read this year is Surprised by Oxford, by Carolyn Weber. Some very...
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WatchInvasion: The Hope That Is Coming
“Hope Foretold”
So, here is the bad news: the problems of the world boil down to US. We are the problem. Merry Christmas…Ah, but thank God that is not the end of the story, for the secret to our best hope was foretold centuries ago. Merry Christmas!
The Sunday Preachin’, Dec 18
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A Blessing
This evening’s blessing ::
May the Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who loves you and by His grace gives you eternal encouragement and hope, comfort and strengthen your heart in every good deed and word. May the Lord of peace give you peace continually and in every circumstance And may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you now and forever. Amen!
~ 2 Thessalonians...
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The Evening Blessing
Just about every night, as I tuck the kids into bed and give them a kiss and a hug, I also like to give them a blessing in the name of the Lord. I thought I would share tonight’s blessing with y’all.
I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy...
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“Productive living is always rooted in a humble sense of personal neediness. This...”
– Broken-Down House: Living Productively In A World Gone Bad, Paul Tripp, p. 36.
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Christopher Hitchens Has Died
For any man to die in unbelief is unspeakably tragic and sad. Doug Wilson reflects on the death of a famous atheist whom he called friend.
Read here.
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“The Gospel came to the Greeks and the Greeks turned it into a philosophy.
The...”
– The Problem with Pastor as Rock Star (via more than 95 theses)
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WatchParents: Give Them Jesus
Our churches are filled with Christians who are parents. But far more important is the answer to this question: How many of those same people are practicing Christian parenting? And what in the world does it look like?
The Sunday Preachin’, Dec 11
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Yet I Will Be Joyful!
Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty…
yet I will rejoice in the LORD! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation! The Sovereign LORD is...
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The Unpopular Path to a Far Better Church
John Frame:
We need more Christians who will lead lives of repentance, for repentance always challenges pride.
If you’re coming to God daily to confess to him how much you have sinned, you will find it hard to pretend that you are holier than everybody else. You’ll find it hard to put on airs, to pose as the perfect Christian.
When others accuse you of sin, you won’t...
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A Poem of Gratefulness →
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WatchAn excellent interview with one of my favorite authors, N.D. Wilson.
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Don't Thingamatize Christmas
A very thought-provoking, worship-inducing, change-the-way-you-look-at-Christmas post from Jared Wilson:
The danger in the seasonal celebration is that we cave to sentimentality and rote nostalgia and thus forget that the meek and mild baby in a manger was nothing short of the opening salvo in the kingdom of heaven revolution consisting in God personally invading earth.
We will toss around...
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"The Stable"
Christmas Eve I saw a stable, low and very bare, A little child in a manger. The oxen knew Him, had Him in their care, To men He was a stranger, The safety of the world was lying there, And the world’s danger.
~ Mary Elizabeth Coleridge
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Do I Just Show Up?
This week I was talking with some people about this past Sunday at Calvary Community Church, the church where I am a pastor/shepherd. One of them, when reflecting on the music portion of the service, mentioned that it took a few songs for his heart to “warm up.” And then, without any prodding, as he thought further, he said something along the lines of, “Of course, I should...
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“The prophetic ministry is continued indefinitely until Christ returns. From the...”
– ~ Volbeda, The Pastoral Genius of Preaching, p. 57.
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WatchThe Kingdom
Isabella and I will have difficulty waiting for this follow-up to The Sword and The Gift.
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“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but...”
– Micah 6:8, ESV
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So Forgetful
That is what I am.
I was reminded of this tonight as we read a chapter from our Advent book this year, Behold the Lamb of God: An Advent Narrative. The reminder sprang from this paragraph, reflecting on the fall of man:
When the dust in Eden settled, things were different. Coming into this world would be a struggle. Living in this world would be a struggle. Leaving this world would be a...
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WatchSex, Marriage, and Singleness Part 5: The Power of the Gospel
A deadly tool in the arsenal of the evil one is the power of images to lead us into sexual sin. But in the Scriptures we have hope, for there we find the expulsive power of a new affection, placed before our eyes in the form of a contrasting, vivid image.
The Sunday Preachin’ Dec 4
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WatchIn researching my last two sermons, I came across this ministry - unearthed - which makes the connection between America’s insatiable desire for porn and the global sex trade.
In this video, a mini-documentary about a man that once made his living by trafficking women & children for the purposes of commercial sex. From unearthed’s description:
Jacob worked as a trafficker for a...
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Fighting Lust
One of the dumbest things Christians do is head into a fight without a strategy. I hear it all the time. Someone tells me that they are having difficulty in a particular area of sin, and one of the questions I ask is, “So, what are you doing to fight in that area?”
Glassy eyes.
Cue the crickets.
The only way to win is to have a plan. And one of the areas this is most important is...
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Jesus Ministers to a Large Crowd
By proclaiming to them:
And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. “Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son...
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WatchThe Innkeeper
We read it every Advent.
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“Asking people what they want in church, instead of giving what they were created...”
– ~ Tweet by James McDonald, Fri Dec 2.
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Get Serious
I rarely touch on politics here, but this quote, from a great article by Mindy Belz in the recent issue of WORLD magazine, was too good not to share:
GOP contenders will have to face five threats that in my view surpass the challenges of the Cold War era:
the imminent possibility of a nuclear-armed Iran;
the proximity of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal to ascendant terrorist networks;
a...
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Is "Fun" A Non-Christian Word?
(A random thought as I study this morning.)
The way some Christians talk, I sometimes think they think it is, or should be.
But I think that misunderstands what God has done for us. If anyone ought to be having fun, it ought to be Christians. We, of all people, should understand what fun really is. Don’t get me wrong, I am all for getting in the trenches, giving all for Jesus, and doing...
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A Reflection on Waiting
I long to learn patience. I desire to know how to wait. And I ache for Jesus so much more.
Advent has come to teach me this year. And I have a helper. Her name is Paula Gooder, and I am spending a little time listening to her each day this Advent season. This, of course, is the great thing about a book. For a mere $6, I can sit down with Ms. Gooder and benefit from her thoughtful Advent musings...