Category: PASSION Collections

Passion Points

On By BrianIn PASSION Points

Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:

Your Antidote for Awe Amnesia – Paul Tripp (TGC)
Just as a telescope points you to the stars and magnifies them for you to see their illuminating glory, so the earth focuses our eyes on God and magnifies his glory, so it can produce wonder in us. Every beautiful and amazing sight, sound, color, texture, taste, and touch of the created world has gloryscopic intention built into it. Every powerful and mighty thing, animate and inanimate, is gloryscopic by design. No created beauty is an end in itself. No physical wonder exists in isolation. Nothing that is, just is. Everything exists for a grand, vertical purpose.

The Character of the Christian: Above Reproach – Tim Challies
Your life is so consistent that your reputation is credible, you are an example worth following, and you do not make the gospel look fake by teaching one thing while doing another.

A Simple Way To Spend 45 Minutes A day With The Lord – Mark Altrogge|
Devise your own plan and try to make it a habit. Again, start small if 45 minutes seems too long…. The key is to try to be consistent. Nothing satisfies or yields more joy than spending time with Jesus.

4 Ways to Cling to the Lord – Sam Storms (Crossway)
The temptation to forget God is always present. But there is a way to maintain one’s devotion to the Lord. Joshua’s counsel in Joshua 23:6-11 is especially helpful and can be summarized using four As.

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day!

Social Media Collection

On By BrianIn Current Collection

We had a youth winter retreat this past Sunday, and we looked at what the Bible says about social media.  Here are some helpful related posts by Tony Reinke to help all of us think further about it.  If you only have time for one, read the first one.

Six Ways Your Phone Is Changing You

Facebook Obsession and the Anguish of Boredom

Six Wrong Reasons to Check Your Phone in the Morning

Smartphone Addiction and Our Spiritual ADD

Unsocial Media: Meeting the Digital Age Face-to-Face

The Good Samaritan’s Smartphone and the Law of Love

 

Passion Points

On By BrianIn PASSION Points

Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:

3 Reminders as You Enter the New Year 2016 – Brian G. Najapfour

Ten Check Up Questions for the New Year – Kevin DeYoung

Advice for Another Year of Bible Reading – Bruce Ware (DG)

12 Promises for Perseverance in Bible Reading – Dave Zuleger (DG)

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day worshiping the Lord with your local church!

New Year’s Collection

On By BrianIn Holidays, PASSION Collections

It is time to ponder some new year’s resolutions!  Here are some good posts as you reflect upon your life this past year, and how God might be leading you to grow in 2016:

Ten Questions to Ask at the Start of a New Year – Donald Whitney

One Big Tip to Make Your Resolutions Stick – Tim Challies

Striving for a More Intentional Life of Prayer – Erik Raymond

The Church Comes First – Nick Batzig

Star Wars Collection

On By BrianIn Current Collection

The cultural event of the year has seemingly arrived, and it wouldn’t hurt to try to think about it through some Christian lenses.  So here are some helpful posts to do just that.

Star Wars and the Ancient Religion – Peter Jones (Ligonier)
The appearance of a new episode of the Star Wars film series is an important moment for Christian witness. To be sure, we can shrug our shoulders, since Star Wars is old news. Or we can enthusiastically introduce our grandchildren to what we might think is a beloved, harmless yarn. Or we can—and should—discover in the series an occasion to sharpen our presentation of the gospel message and help our children and grandchildren, and anyone else who might be interested, to understand the culture in which they live.

The Irresistible Force of ‘Star Wars’: 3 Popular Approaches – Michael Svigel (TGC)
The Star Wars saga trades in universal themes of fall and depravity, struggle and conflict, sacrifice and redemption, heroism and hope. In this way, it sings truth to our souls. George Lucas, the creator of Star Wars, drank deeply from the wells of human experience and incorporated themes that have repeatedly appeared in epic poems, plays, legends, myths, and religious beliefs of various cultures through millennia.

Be A Yoda, Not a Grinch – Marshall Segal (DG)
Inspired by the proximity to Christmas, I’m putting a light saber into the hands of the greedy Grinch and pitting him against the Star Wars hero of blockbuster past. In the end, the two may only have a green complexion in common, but comparing them really can be an exercise in treasuring the coming of Christ, and in living and serving more like him.

Ministry Collection

On By BrianIn Ministry Moments

Here are some good posts for preachers:

5 Ways to Deepen Your Preaching – Gavin Ortlund (TGC)
Preaching is like a vast mountain, the top of which is hidden by clouds; and the higher I climb, the more it stretches up still higher above me.

6 Ways Not to Preach the Birth of Jesus – Steve Mathewson (TGC)
But there is another challenge awaiting preachers. The Gospel accounts of Jesus’s birth have been overlaid with centuries of exegetical misunderstandings and legendary elaborations.

That Vital Moment in Every Preacher’s Week – Erik Raymond
This is why one of the most important decisions that the preacher will make each week will come on Sunday night before he goes to sleep. He has to be able to go to close his eyes patiently trusting that God will work.

Passion Points

On By BrianIn PASSION Points

Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:

You Just Need To Obey – Steve Lawson (Ligonier)
For all true followers of Christ, obedience is never peripheral. At the heart of what it means to be a disciple of our Lord is living in loving devotion to God. But if such love is real, the acid test is obedience.

What Your Complaining Says About God – Philip Graham Ryken (Crossway)
It is really important to recognize that all of our complaining is ultimately directed against God, whether we mention him specifically in our complaints or not. All of our complaining goes to him; he is the great God. He is the one who exercises his sovereignty over whatever happens. So all of our complaints go right to the top.

Patience Is Not Optional for the Christian – Albert Mohler (Ligonier)
Patience is not optional for the Christian. The apostle Paul repeatedly commanded Christians to demonstrate patience to each other. In fact, this is a critical test of Christian authenticity. True Christian character, the very evidence of regeneration, is seen in authentic patience.

A Powerful Practice for Prayer – Tim Challies
There is one practice I find myself working on these days more than any other, and I think it may be the most important of them all. It is a simple one: Never resist the least urge to pray.

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day!

Doctrine Collection

On By BrianIn Doctrine Collection

Here are some good posts on doctrine:

Doctrine Matters: Eternal Life Depends Upon It – Kevin DeYoung
Christianity is much more than getting your doctrine right.  But it is not less.

Take a Quiz on Christ – Tim Challies
How well do you know what the Bible teaches us about Jesus?

Your Highest Privilege – Tim Challies
Of all the privileges that are ours through the gospel, which is the greatest? According to many theologians, there is no privilege higher than adoption.