Author: Brian

Follower of Jesus, Husband, Dad, Grandpa, and Pastor

Passion Points

On By BrianIn Idolatry, PASSION Points

Here are some good posts for your weekend reading – all on the topic of worship and idolatry:

Why I John Ends With A Command – John’s last line properly leaves us with that most basic question which God continually poses to each human heart: Has something or someone besides Jesus the Christ taken title to your heart’s trust, preoccupation, loyalty, service, fear and delight?

The Idolatry of Spiritual Laziness – Laziness is idolatry. It is closely related to its opposite—workaholism. Both the sins of laziness and workaholism are sins of self-worship. The behavior looks different, but the root idolatry is the same.

Worship Distorted – The root of idolatry is pride….  Pride is seen as detestable to God precisely because it steals from God’s glory and his preeminence. Pride is rebellion, but it is much more than rebellion against God’s authority. Pride is self-centeredness rather than God-centeredness. A proud heart sees itself as central and God as the one who must find his place of orbit in the proud heart’s universe.

Why Do You Worship – Worship is not first an outward act; it is an inner spiritual treasuring of the character and the ways of God in Christ.  It is a cherishing of Christ, a being satisfied with all that God is for us in Christ.  When these things are missing, there is no worship, no matter what forms or expressions are present.

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day worshipping our great God with your local church!

God Our Creator

On By BrianIn God & His Glory2 Comments

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
– Genesis 1:1

Consider the creative ability required for God to create our world.  He creates thousands of different animals in all shapes and sizes.  He creates giraffes, elephants, rhinos, hippos, hamsters, penguins, eagles, robins, whales, sharks, shrimp, lobsters, and so much more.  He creates thousands of different types of plants.  Some plants bear fruits of various color, shape, and taste.  Many plants have flowers in incredible variety.  He creates different environments on the earth – deserts, forests, prairies, mountains, oceans, and more.  He fills space with stars and planets of incredible variety.  What creativity to make all of this!

Consider the wisdom and knowledge required for God to create our world.  What he designs must actually function.  Animals must move and breathe and eat and multiply.  God must come up with practical things like hearts, lungs, livers, spinal cords, and so much more.  All of this made up of cells, made up of atoms, made up of….  And then there are plants which need to grow and bear fruit and form seeds.  And all these plants and animals have to fit together in their habitat.  And the earth has to be just the right distance from the sun.  And, and, and….  We have spent several thousand years trying to figure out how our world works.  But God knows it all.  What wisdom and knowledge to make all of this!

Consider the power required for God to create our world.  There is nothing, and with a word God creates something.  With a word, he makes planets and stars and plants and animals.  With a word.  What authority!  What power!  Ponder the power required to make this vast universe.  And God does it all by simply speaking it into existence.  What power to make all of this!

This is our Creator.  This is our God.

Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
– Psalm 95:6

Questions for the New Year

On By BrianIn Holidays1 Comment

Donald Whitney has 31 helpful questions for us to ask as we look at the coming year.  Below are the first ten.  You can follow the link to read the rest.

1. What’s one thing you could do this year to increase your enjoyment of God?

2. What’s the most humanly impossible thing you will ask God to do this year?

3. What’s the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your family life this year?

4. In which spiritual discipline do you most want to make progress this year, and what will you do about it?

5. What is the single biggest time-waster in your life, and what will you do about it this year?

6. What is the most helpful new way you could strengthen your church?

7. For whose salvation will you pray most fervently this year?

8. What’s the most important way you will, by God’s grace, try to make this year different from last year?

9. What one thing could you do to improve your prayer life this year?

10. What single thing that you plan to do this year will matter most in ten years? In eternity?

More questions….

For more helpful questions and articles by Donald Whitney, see here.

Habits for Growth in 2012

On By BrianIn Habit Miscellaneous, Holidays

In response to God’s grace and by His grace:

Which habits are you already practicing that you will continue?

Which habit are you already doing that you will seek to enhance?  How?

Which habit will you seek to begin this year?

Some Habits

  • Daily time with God in His Word and prayer
  • Read through the New Testament
  • Read through the Bible
  • Regular Scripture memory
  • Join a Sunday School class or small group Bible study
  • Greater commitment to prayer
  • Regularly attend Prayer Meetings
  • Closer fellowship with other believers
  • Join a Bible-believing, gospel-preaching church
  • Actively seek ways to encourage others
  • Serve in some church ministry
  • Better stewardship of time
  • Better stewardship of money
  • Tithe
  • Personal evangelism
  • Get involved in church outreaches

Enjoying the Work of Our Hands

On By BrianIn Uncategorized2 Comments

 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.  Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.
So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.
– Genesis 1:31-2:3

Upon finishing creation, God looked at all that he made and declared it good.  He found pleasure in what he had made.  And so he rested from his work – enjoying the work of his hands.

I recently spent a lot of time laying a new floor in our living room.  One day, as I was near the end of the project, I was looking at the floor.  And I felt pleasure at what I had done.  I had a sense of accomplishment.  I enjoyed the work of my hands.

This is one reason God created the Sabbath – to give us a day to rest and enjoy the work of our hands.  To be able to stop from our labor long enough to see what we had done and find pleasure in it.

As we finish another year, we look back to evaluate.  But perhaps too we should look back to enjoy what we have been able to do during the past year.  To celebrate the successes.  To find pleasure in tasks completed.  To enjoy the work of our hands.

What Are You Seeking?

On By BrianIn Heart, Idolatry2 Comments

What are you seeking?

This is Jesus’ question to two of John the Baptist’s disciples.  It is also an important question for us to ponder as we end this year and begin a new year. 

The answer to the question determines how we lived in 2011. 
The answer determines how we will live in 2012.

The answer tells us what we worship, what we desire. 
It reveals idols in our hearts.  It shows how much we love God.

So as you evaluate the past year and look to the next, ask yourself the question:

What are you seeking?

 

Passion Points – Christmas

On By BrianIn Holidays, PASSION Points

Here is your Christmas edition of Passion Points, and it includes some really interesting reflections for Christmas.  An excerpt from each post is included.

Calvin & Claus – Every Christmas, poor Calvin is a tortured soul, torn between his desire to be “good” so that Santa will bring him lots of presents – and the (at least for a little boy) overwhelming temptation to smack the little girl next door with a perfectly formed snowball.

Scrooge, Overjoyed – Writing in A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens tells us that Cratchit’s wife initially refused to participate in a toast to Scrooge on Christmas. We’re tempted to follow her example. We let bitterness, anger, and discontentment dim the light of Christ’s birth from shining brighter in our lives.

The Best Christmas Songs Tell The Truth – Sins, sorrows, curse, Satan, alienation, death. Doesn’t sound much like holiday cheer, does it? But this is the context of the comfort and joy of the Christmas announcement. Bethlehem’s star is only visible against the black sky of sin and death.

All Oppression Will Cease, Even in North Korea – Dictators and despots will continue to learn from their predecessors and build bureaucratic machines of terror and oppression.  But only for a time.  The fact remains that a day is coming when in Jesus’ name, “all oppression will cease.” Even the oppression of totalitarians in North Korea.

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day/Christmas celebrating the birth of our Savior who changes everything!

O Savior of our Fallen Race

On By BrianIn Holidays, Songs of Passion

I have been enjoying Keith and Kristyn Getty’s new Christmas album – Joy.  With a strong Irish/Celtic flavor, it includes wonderful renditions of traditional carols like God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen and Carol of the Bells.  The album also includes a number of worthwhile new songs.  Below is one of my favorite songs on the album – O Savior of our Fallen Race -with great lyrics and haunting music.

Declaring the Glory

On By BrianIn Declaring the Glory1 Comment

Outside our home last winter.

The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
– Psalm 19:1

For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature,
have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world,
in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
– Romans 1:20

Counting the Cost

On By BrianIn Uncategorized3 Comments

For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost,
whether he has enough to complete it.
– Luke 14:28

For which of you, desiring to remodel your living room and children’s bedrooms,
does not first sit down and count the cost, to see if you have enough time to do it.

Okay so I flunked on that second one, and have been giving all my extra time to it.
But the remodeling is almost done, so I should be blogging again soon….