December 2009
1 post
recklesssurrender: “Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high...
Dec 17th
1 note
1 tag
listen to the invitation that God gives us… Isaiah 55:1-3 1“Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich...
Dec 1st
November 2009
10 posts
2 tags
psalm 104- a great thanksgiving psalm →
Nov 28th
1 tag
Nov 24th
1 tag
“Incline my heart to Your testimonies.”
– Psalm 119:36
Nov 18th
1 tag
[the great discovery] from the valley of vision
glorious god,  i bless thee that i know thee. i once lived in the world, but was ignorant of its creator, was partaker of thy providences , but knew not the provider,  was blind while enjoying the sunlight, was deaf to things spiritual, with voices all around me,  understood many things, but had no knowledge of thy ways,  saw the world, but did not see jesus only. o happy day, when in they...
Nov 13th
“Spiritual experience that does not arise from God’s word is not Christian...”
– Tim Chester and Steve Timmis, Total Church RT http://firstimportance.org/ (via markseekins)
Nov 11th
3 notes
1 tag
“16 But I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love...”
– Psalm 59:16-17 A Mighty Fortress is our God.  To Him be all the glory, forever and ever, amen.
Nov 9th
1 note
1 tag
“Of the 16,344 people groups by country, 6,639 are still considered unreached.”
– joshua project
Nov 3rd
2 tags
Nov 2nd
1 note
1 tag
The Spirit of Adoption
You don’t often hear sermons about adoption. As someone who grew up attending church, I cannot remember hearing a single one. And as a kid, I never gave adoption much more than a passing thought. Never once did I consider the deeper role that adoption would play in my own family or the deeper meaning it would reveal concerning my relationship with God. But as an adoptive father, I have found...
Nov 2nd
2 notes
October 2009
13 posts
1 tag
“14 “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect...”
– Psalm 91:14-16
Oct 31st
1 tag
an important principle in reading the Bible
Sometimes readers of the Bible see the conditions that God lays down for his blessing and they conclude from these conditions that our action is first and decisive, then God responds to bless us. That is not right. There are indeed real conditions that God often commands. We must meet them for the promised blessing to come. But that does not mean that we are left to ourselves to meet the...
Oct 28th
1 tag
Oct 27th
“There’s no way for the Great Commission to be completed without someone...”
Oct 25th
1 tag
young earth vs. old earth
The debate that exists between old earth and young earth has at times become heated amongst Christians. We do not believe that this is an essential issue in regards to either salvation or one’s view of the authority of Scripture. Christians from both sides of the argument hold to high Biblical authority. The issue arises from the meaning of “day” in Genesis 1. Does this refer to...
Oct 22nd
1 tag
“One of the great uses of Twitter and Facebook will be to prove at the Last Day...”
– John Piper
Oct 22nd
1 note
1 tag
Acts 17:26-27 →
Oct 21st
2 tags
Oct 21st
6 notes
2 tags
“I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may...”
– Acts 20:24
Oct 20th
1 tag
“Compared to you God: The sun is darkness,all beauty deformity,all wisdom folly,...”
– Valley of Vision
Oct 20th
1 tag
Oct 19th
1 tag
C.S. Lewis passage from The Problem of Pain
There was a man born among these Jews who claimed to be, or to be the son of, or to be “one with,” the Something which is at once the awful haunter of nature and the giver of the moral law. The claim is so shocking—a paradox, and even a horror, which we may easily be lulled into taking too lightly—that only two views of this man are possible. Either he was a raving lunatic of an unusually...
Oct 16th
1 note
Great question to ask in temptation: Romans 6:21 “What benefit did you gain from the things you are now ashamed of?”
Oct 14th
September 2009
9 posts
can you imagine having the boldness of Moses in Exodus 33? check out what he says to God in verses 12-16, and how God honors those words. 12 Moses said to the LORD, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’ 13 If you are pleased with...
Sep 24th
WatchWatch
missional community
Sep 22nd
1 tag
pray
What we pray for is rarely what we really need. We need God’s presence far more than his provision. Prayer is not a mere list given to our God when time affords. Prayer is the continual communication we have with our triune God. God’s people are not to just consider prayer as an aspect of their lives, but as the very essence of who they are. “So when we sing, ‘Draw me...
Sep 21st
Sep 17th
“Pastor, if todays sermon would still be as true had Christ NOT died and risen,...”
– jr vassar
Sep 13th
1 tag
Sep 10th
2 tags
Sep 8th
1 tag
“Nearly everyone defines sin as breaking a list of rules. Jesus, though, shows...”
– Tim Keller, The Prodigal God
Sep 4th
3 tags
Confession: the Bad News and the Good News
Gen 3:6-10: “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. (7) Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin...
Sep 4th
1 tag
“My Paradise: With Christ. Not sinning. No pain. New earth. Precious in that...”
– John Piper
Sep 1st
August 2009
30 posts
1 tag
to know your name
“Arrested by Your truth and righteousness Your grace has overwhelmed my brokenness.” read that again. Your grace has overwhelmed my brokenness. yes.
Aug 31st
1 tag
“Is this not the fast which I choose, To loosen the bonds of wickedness, To undo the bands of the yoke, And to let the oppressed go free And break every yoke? Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry And bring the homeless poor into the house; When you see the naked, to cover them; And not to hide yourself from your own flesh? ” - Isaiah 58:6-7 messing me up.
Aug 31st
1 tag
Isaiah 1:16-17 Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause. Scripture tells us that we can learn to do good, seek justice and correct oppression. We [Christians] are all called to love and serve the poor. We don’t have to...
Aug 28th
2 tags
Are All Christians Commanded to Cross Cultures?
“Are all Christians commanded to cross cultures in ministry?” The short answer to this question is “yes”, but let me explain further. 1. Remember that culture is a junk drawer term. There are many ways to define culture and numerous layers to a person’s, or society’s, culture. Therefore, crossing cultures is not as hard or flamboyant as it might sound. Crossing cultures may mean...
Aug 26th
“Why did Jesus have to die in order to forgive us? There was a debt to be paid —...”
– Timothy Keller, The Reason For God
Aug 26th
1 tag
“Christ is much more powerful to save than Adam was to destroy.”
– John Calvin
Aug 24th
1 tag
WatchWatch
Nothing Compares
Aug 23rd
“There are 100,000 orphans in the US. There are 350,000 churches. U do the...”
Aug 22nd
1 tag
The orphan find her home… Your Kingdom here and now…to the least of these…distribute what we have….that all may taste and see. Psalm 82:3 Vindicate the weak and fatherless Do justice to the afflicted and destitute Psalm 146:9 The LORD protects the strangers; He supports the fatherless and the widow, But He thwarts the way of the wicked. We all have a Dad.
Aug 22nd
2 tags
“And you were dead in your trespasses and sins”
– Ephesians 2v1
Aug 22nd
1 tag
Aug 19th
1 tag
Presence above Provision
What we pray for is rarely what we really need. We need God’s presence far more than his provision. Prayer is not a mere list given to our God when time affords. Prayer is the continual communication we have with our triune God. God’s people are not to just consider prayer as an aspect of their lives, but as the very essence of who they are. “So when we sing, ‘Draw me...
Aug 18th
1 tag
“All of our personal problems and church problems come because we don’t come...”
– Timothy Keller
Aug 18th
“Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to care for orphans...”
– James 1:27
Aug 17th
3 notes
1 tag
why suffering is a GIFT
I spoke to you in your prosperity; but you said, I will not listen. Jeremiah 22v21
Aug 16th
1 tag
prayer mirrors the gospel
“The gospel, God’s free gift of grace in Jesus, only workswhen we realize we don’t have it all together. The same is true for prayer. Thevery thing we are allergic to-our helplessness-is what makes prayer work. Itworks because we are helpless. We can’t do life on our own. Prayer mirrors the gospel. In the gospel, the Father takesus as we are because of Jesus and gives us...
Aug 15th