to my blog. Here you will find my attempt at writings that will edify, encourage and make you laugh. I also post books to look for, recommendations and other links around the web that you might like. My goal here is that Jesus would be exalted and treasured as we devour and savor His Word together.
Got some change lying around and not sure what to do with it? Buy the Westminster Shorter catechism, leave it in your bag and read it when you’ve got some empty time (waiting at the doc, pumping gas, waiting for your drink at starbucks, etc…)
[shipping is $4.00, and still worth it].
God’s holiness is the seering purity of his eternal and infinite being.
– Sinclair Ferguson, Holy Spirit, page 16.
The Psalms have “one pervasive aim:To bring life in all its variety and complexity into the presence of the Lord, tell him about it, and to come to see it from his perspective.”
– Alec Moyter, Roots: Let the Old Testament Speak, p. 135
“For we are His workmanship….”
At this point, you may hear a preacher begin to talk about the Greek language and how wonderful it is and how there is such a greater and deeper meaning found in the original languages. Then, the pastor may go on to say that the word ‘workmanship’, carries the idea of poetry, therefor we are God’s poem.
Really? Is that true?
Read article below to see..
Koinonia: Eph. 2:10—Are We God’s Poem? (Monday with Mounce 60).
Spoiler: We are not : )
It may preach well, but it’s not all that Biblical. So maybe it actually doesn’t preach well.
Last time I defined dating this way….
I’ll take this piece by piece, to provide some guidelines and wisdom for a Christian who wants to date.
There is no way around this! You cannot, should not, and must not date a someone who doesn’t love Jesus. Now, you can, but you’ll regret it. And I think there will be consequences. Missionary dating is not your spiritual gift! If you agreed that the purpose to your dating relationship is marriage (and it should be!), it would make perfect sense that you wouldn’t be preparing and planning for marriage with someone who hates your God. Yes…I believe that everyone is a sinner, is at enmity with God and under the control of Satan (Eph. 2:1-3), unless they are born again. I am going to guess that is not the kind of person you want to marry.
The Apostle Paul makes it very plain in 2 Cor. 6:14-15, concerning believers and deep relationships with unbelievers.
14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15 What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?
The imagery that Paul is using here is one of a farmer. They would take two like animals, say oxen, hitch them together at the shoulders and they would be put to work together to accomplish the task. As a Christian, your task is to glorify God. This is why Paul says, you cannot be yoked with an unbeliever because they will not help you in accomplishing the task to glorify God, they will actually hinder you. Marriage is a wonderful yoke of love that leads you to glorify God with your spouse. Go and hitch an ox with a dead poodle and see how well they plow a field.
When you are looking for a potential spouse, your questions should be…
Pt. 3 To Follow
What is it? Great summary found below
[If you are reading this in a RSS reader, you'll have to click through to see the video]
What will happen in the final judgment? Will all of our deeds be exposed, both good and bad? Will Christians and unbelievers experience the exact same judgment?
Those are questions that are commonly posed by Christians, and Tim Challies has provided a great summary of what will happen at the day of judgment.
Here is a snippet…
…this final judgment for believers will not be a judgment of life or death. There is no reason to think that as we approach God’s throne we will have pounding hearts, hoping that we will pass the test and be put at his right hand…It is not that kind of a judgment, for all who have put their faith in Christ have already been justified and declared righteous. Christ has already been judged on their behalf. Instead, this final judgment will be a time of the bestowing of reward. Here Christ will evaluate all we have done according to the light given us and bestow rewards accordingly.
Click the link below to read the rest of the article.
Growing people grow people; consuming people consume programs. (Church Unique by Will Mancini)
If you are reading this, chances are you want to date someone, or already are. I think that is a great thing!! I think you should date, but my concern and desire is that you would date in a certain way. If you are going to date, you need to know what you are getting into. You need to have a biblical idea of what dating actually is. Let me provide for you a working definition of dating. Having a defined course for dating is helpful, in many ways, but let me share one with you. Let’s say you are dating this person and yall are having a wonderful time, but you start to realize something isn’t right, maybe even sinful. You can recall what you have defined dating to be for you, run it by Jesus and His word and see if you spidey sense is right.
Answer: NO!!
While dating is not a concept or practice found in the Bible, but guess what is…
1) Lordship (ownership)
When you became a Christian, made new by the Holy Spirit, Jesus became Lord, King, Sovereign, over your life. Your life is not your own, neither is your body (1 Cor. 6:19-20). This truth applies not only to dating, but to every realm of life. You are now to follow, submit and honor God, with the Spirit’s Help (Romans 8:13-14) and the Father’s pruning (John 15:1-2). This means that your dating relationship, must have as it is aim to please Jesus, not just you or the other person (2 Cor. 5:9).
Simply, even your dating relationship is to bring glory to God (1 Cor. 10:31). Which means that you cannot simply do whatever you want, because your way leads to death (Proverbs 16:25, 28:26) and God’s wisdom leads to life and holiness (Proverbs 10:17, 12:28).
2) The World has a definition and you need to rail against it.
“In 1896 the word dating was introduced as a lower-class slang in reference to prostitution. ‘Going on a date’ was a euphemism for paying for sex.” (Mark Driscoll, Religion Saves, p.181). While this may not be the overwhelming definition today, this mode of dating is still held by some, it’s just not as blatant.
The 21st century practice of dating is geared more towards temporary pleasure and joy than a life long covenant in marriage. This is evidenced by what questions are asked after the date, by friends and family. Wrong idea of dating: “Did you have a nice time?” Of course you should have a nice time!! But if that is where the question stops, it’s failing. Right idea of dating: “Are they marriage material?”
3) Get to the point!
What is the point in dating? There is one singular point. Here’s what dating is not…
The point to dating is…TO GET MARRIED.
If you don’t want to get married, don’t date. If you aren’t ready to get married in the not to distant future, don’t date. Dating is for people who want to get married, not for children.
The byline of the dating series is: men, women and dating for the glory of God. It’s helpful to build our definition off of that.
Defined…
A Christian man and woman, who are making it known that they are in a committed relationship, and are now looking towards marriage with great intentionality.
Definition will be expounded more tomorrow in pt. 2.
Is it sin to not like the doctrine of election? For a great summary of this doctrine by J.I. Packer, click here. This is a doctrine that is very controversial and hated by some, but I love it and think you should too. Read the summary by Packer and if you have remaining questions read this article by Wayne Grudem.
I really like the ESV.
