Gospel-Centeredness and Hebrews 6:1?

Why We Must Be Theological

Kevin DeYoung:

"If I’m not mistaken, our church has a reputation for being quite theological. I know this is why many people have come to our church. And I imagine it’s why some people have left, or never checked us out in the first place. But no church should apologize for talking about and loving theology. Now–and this is an important caveat–if we are arrogant with our theology, or if our doctrinal passion is just about intellectual gamesmanship, or we are all out of proportioned in our affections for less important doctrines, then may the Lord rebuke us. We should not be surprised theology gets a bad name in such circumstances.

But when it comes to thinking on, rejoicing in, and building a church upon sound biblical truth, we should all long for a richly theological church.

I could cite many reasons for preaching theologically and many reasons for wanting to pastor a congregation that loves theology. Let me mention six:"

Read the entire article here.

In Trial And Weakness And Trouble

"In trial and weakness and trouble, He seeks to bring us low, until we learn that His grace is all, and to take pleasure in the very thing that brings us and keeps us low. His strength is made perfect in our weakness. His presence filling and satisfying our emptiness, becomes the secret of humility that need never fail. The humble man has learned the secret of abiding gladness. The weaker he feels, the lower he sinks, and the greater his humiliations appear, the more power and the presence of Christ are his portion."

Andrew Murray

John Piper - You Will Suffer

Family Worship

"We have found it important not to enter the family worship time with rigid expectations and a rigid plan. We want an atmosphere of freedom, where our teenagers feel free to ask questions, verbalize doubts, express confusion, debate applications, and try to draw inferences and applications, all without the fear of being silenced, rebuked, or ridiculed. We want the truth to connect, to convict, and to capture our teenagers, so we are in no hurry. We want to give them time to understand and the Spirit time to work. This time is for them. We have no expectations about the amount of material we cover and our goal is not to get our teenagers to agree with us. The goal is to stimulate in them a hunger for God, so we want to be relaxed, patient, and creative."

Paul Tripp - Age of Opportunity p. 186

Embrace The Paradox

"Embrace the paradox of God's sovereignty and man’s responsibility. The sad thing is that some embrace the sovereignty of God over the human will and say: “It is wrong to portray God with His arms stretched out, inviting and calling.” And others embrace the responsibility of man and say, “If God invites and calls and beckons, then he can’t really be sovereign over man’s will, and man really is ultimately self-determining and God is not really in control of all things.” Both of these are sad mistakes. It is sad, because one group rejects something deep and precious that God has revealed about Himself for our strength and hope and joy and love – namely, his absolute sovereignty. Oh, how sweet it is when all around our soul gives way, and we need a reliable and firm rock in a world that sometimes seems utterly out of control and meaningless and cruel. Oh, how sweet at these times to know that God is not good and helpless, but good and sovereign. And the other group (who embrace the sovereignty of God) sometimes rejects something utterly crucial for understanding the justice of God in dealing with people, and they fail to see how we should plead with people and persuade people and invite people and woo people with tears, to Christ, and on behalf of Christ."

John Piper - How Shall People Be Saved? Part 2.

The Voice Of God In Sickness And Sorrow

Every sickness and sorrow is the voice of God speaking to us. Each has its peculiar message. Happy are they who have an eye to see God’s hand, and an ear to hear His voice, in all that happens to them. Nothing in this world happens by chance.

And as it is with sickness, so it is with recovery. Renewed health should send us back to our post in the world with a deeper hatred of sin, a more thorough watchfulness over our own ways, and a more constant purpose of mind to live for God. Far too often the excitement and novelty of returning health tempt us to forget the vows and intentions of the sick-room. There are spiritual dangers attending a recovery! Well would it be for us all after illness to grave these words on our hearts, “Let me sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto me.”

Let us leave the passage with grateful hearts, and bless God that we have such a Gospel and such a Savior as the Bible reveals. Are we ever sick and ill? Let us remember that Christ sees, and knows, and can heal as He thinks fit. Are we ever in trouble? Let us hear in our trouble the voice of God, and learn to hate sin more.

J.C. Ryle, The Gospel of John, Kindle Loc. 1468-77.

(HT The Works of God)

Thought Life

"Holiness begins in our minds and works out to our actions. That being true, what we allow to enter our minds is critically important. The television programs we watch, the movies we may attend, the books and magazines we read, the music we listen to, and the conversations we have all affect our minds. We need to evaluate the effects of these avenues honestly, using Philippians 4:8 as a standard. Are the thought stimulated by these various avenues true? Are they pure? Lovely? Admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy?"

Jerry Bridges - The Pursuit of Holiness p. 117

Fighter Verses on Your iPhone or Android

The Best Day Of Fishing, Ever!

I've heard of salmon jumping into boats but four deer were pulled from the icy waters of Stephens Passage, Alaska, by a group of locals on Tom Satre's 62-foot charter vessel. Four juvenile Sitka black-tailed deer swam directly toward the boat.

Once the deer reached the boat, the four began to circle the boat, looking directly at the humans on board. Clearly, the bucks were distressed. With help, the typically skittish and absolutely wild animals came willingly onto the boat. Once onboard, they collapsed with exhaustion, shivering.

Here the rescued bucks rest on the back of Tom Satre's boat, the Alaska Quest. All four deer were transported to Taku Harbour. Once the group reached the dock, the first buck that had been pulled from the water hopped onto the dock, looked back, then leapt into the harbour, swam to shore, and disappeared into the forest. After a bit of prodding and assistance from the humans, two others followed suit, but one deer needed more help.

The good Samaritans describe their experience as "one of those defining moments in life." I'm sure it was for the deer, as well.

HT: Dr. Dave Eichler

The Most Orphan-Caring

Dan Cruver:

"Ephesians 1:5 clearly teaches that adoption existed in the mind and will of God before there was any such thing as people adopting children. The Graeco-Roman world did not invent adoption. God did. This means that adoption moved vertically, from God to man, before it ever moved horizontally, from man to man.

We must be very careful here, though. Scripture commands all Christians to love, forgive and welcome others, but it does not command all Christians to adopt. As a matter of fact, it doesn’t even require that some Christians adopt.

What we can say with absolutely certainty, though, is that God the Father does expect those whom He adopts to visit orphans in their affliction (James 1:27, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans…”). My point is simply this: the Love that adopted us becomes a love in us that cares for orphans. As Christians, we should be moved and empowered to visit the fatherless because God himself visited us when we were without hope in this world (Ephesians 2:11-13). For some, this visiting will mean adoption; for others, it may involve helping others adopt or joining with other Christians to provide some form of humanitarian aide or support for orphaned and vulnerable children.

However we Christians are involved in visiting orphans in their affliction, it should be Christianity’s vertical to horizontal movement that moves us out in compassion. Christians should not only be the most loving, forgiving and welcoming people on the planet, we should also be the most orphan-caring."

Read the entire article here.

(HT Vitamin Z)

Shai Linne - Spurgeon