Category: PASSION Collections

Passion Points

On By BrianIn Idolatry, PASSION Points

Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:

Don’t Waste Your Beach Vacation – Steve Dewitt (Via Trevin Wax)

Three Tips for Better Bible Reading – Andy Naselli (DG)

5 Insights Into Idolatry – J. D. Greear

8 Ways to Beat Temptation – Mark Altrogge

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day worshiping our glorious and gracious God with your local church!

Ministry Monday

On By BrianIn Ministry Moments

Here are some good posts on ministry:

Tools for Spiritual Cardiology – Josh Vincent (TGC)
Very helpful questions to address doubt.

4 Reasons Why Some Preachers Get Better and Others Don’t – Hershael York (Sermon Central)

Instead of Building Your Platform, Build Your Character – Derwin Gray

 

Passion Points

On By BrianIn PASSION Points

Here are some really good posts for your weekend reading:

15 Beautiful Benefits of the Word of God – Kristen Wetherell (Unlocking the Bible)
If you’re wondering how to come to the Word today, consider these 15 beautiful benefits of Scripture…

Five Specific Prayers for the Unsaved People in Your Life – Todd Benkert
There are people all around you who need Jesus. He wants to use you to reach them. Here are some of the specific ways you too can pray for people the in your life who need Christ…

The Repentant Heart is a Renouncing Heart – Trevin Wax
The repentant heart renounces any attempt to justify its sin; it humbly acknowledges sin’s existence and its sentence. The repentant heart renounces self-sufficiency; it knows its beating is a gracious gift of God…

Disillusionment with the Church – Jason Helopoulos
I would contend that many of our disillusions with the church are based upon a wrong ethic. We misunderstand the true nature of fellowship in the gospel community. And therefore, we wrongly apply the ethic of other communities to the church.

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day!

Passion Points

On By BrianIn Idolatry, PASSION Points

Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:

How to Grow Spiritually – William Boekestein (Ligonier)
Participating in preaching, baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and prayer must regulate the routine of any healthy Christian.

When We Best Learn the Bible – Jen Wilkin (DG)
But sound Bible study is rooted in a celebration of delayed gratification. Gaining Bible literacy requires allowing our study to have a cumulative effect — across weeks, months, years — so that the interrelation of one part of Scripture to another reveals itself slowly and gracefully, like a dust cloth slipping inch by inch from the face of a masterpiece.

What Is Your Mud Pie? – Tim Challies
It is one of C.S. Lewis’ most powerful and most enduring illustrations: An ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. It is a vivid illustration and one that is simple enough to see in the lives of other people—those people who settle for lesser pleasures when the greatest of all pleasures awaits. But I, at least, find it far more difficult to see in my own life. You may find it just as difficult.  It is worth asking: What is your mud pie?

Success is Dangerous – Jared Wilson
We all prefer success to failure but, really, success is more dangerous. In failure, we know we rely totally on God’s approval and sustaining arm. In success, it is easy to begin looking around, surveying all the territories claimed, all the peoples gathered, all the ministry renown redounding, and we think, “Well, lookee here. Look what has been built with my talents, my gifts, my skills, my strategies, my visions, my sweat, my sacrifice.”

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

Family Focus

On By BrianIn Family Collection

Here are some good posts on parenting I’ve been collecting:

Five Things We Teach Our Kids When We Don’t Know They Are Watching – Melissa Edgington

When My Fashion Accessory Told Me To Take A Hike – Tim Challies  (Yes, this is about parenting, and if you are reading this, you should probably consider this post.)

Daddy, Does God Want To Save Me? – David Murray

Current

On By BrianIn Current Collection

A weekly collection of current news and issues in the church, country, and world.

The debate on the Hobby Lobby decision continues, so here are a few of my own thoughts, followed by some good posts from others to ponder.

1. Much of the outcry against the decision seems to be that an employer could be involved in such a private, personal matter as birth control.  And I agree.  But of course Hobby Lobby didn’t ask to be in that position.  It was the Obama administration that made birth control public policy by requiring employers to pay for it.  As soon as you require someone else to pay, it is no longer a private matter, but a very public matter involving other people.  If you want to keep birth control a private, personal choice, save your money and pay for it yourself.

2. Which brings us to the second point: what is the purpose of insurance? I have life insurance to support my family in case I die unexpectedly.  I have car insurance to cover the costs if I have an unexpected car accident.  I have life insurance to pay the bills if I get an unexpected disease or my health in some other way deteriorates unexpectedly.  The point is that insurance is designed so the many can cover the costs of the few who have the unexpected happen.  So where does this leave birth control?  Good question, because birth control has nothing to do with the unexpected – certainly not in the way of a disease or other health failure.  If you want some form of birth control, save your money and buy it.  Why should you expect your insurance company pay for it?

3. The answer to that last question of course is because there is a large group of people who want sex to be completely free without any possibility of pregnancy, and of course someone else should fit the bill to make sure there is no pregnancy.  But last time I checked, sex without pregnancy was not a Constitutional right.  Again, if you want birth control, pay for it yourself.  Take responsibility for your actions and stop expecting (or demanding) a handout.

4. While I am not necessarily against birth control in general, any birth control that could cause an abortion shouldn’t even be on the market, let alone be mandated in insurance policies.  It would be nice if the current administration would stop trying to shove their pro-abortion views down our throats.

5. Finally, there is the issue of priorities.  The First Amendment guarantees freedom of religion, not free birth control.  And that is as it should be.

Here are some other helpful takes on the issue:

Was Hobby Lobby All Wrong About Emergency Contraceptives? – Kevin DeYoung

A Simple Solution to Healthcare Woes: Separate Health Insurance from Employment – Leslie Loftis (The Federalist)

A Company Liberals Could Love – Ross Douthat (The New York Times)

Non-hysterical comments welcome….

 

Ministry Monday

On By BrianIn Ministry Moments

Here are some good posts on small town/church ministry:

You Won’t Waste Your Life – Jonathan Parnell (DG)
Millions, even in the States, call home those small towns and wide-open spaces that don’t make it on global maps. And the people who live there, the ruralites, need the gospel.

6 Ways Small Churches Can Love Their Communities – Trevin Wax
Is it possible to do acts of mercy in your local Jerusalem with a tiny band of volunteers? Surprisingly, it is. Here are six tips for small church outreach….

Seeing Potential Out in the Corn Fields – Phil Somers (RHMA)
Pray. As you dream, do it on your knees.  Pray that God will open your eyes to see your people, church and community as He sees them. Ask Him to help you see what they
could be if He gets hold of them. (Note: This is a PDF)