Category: PASSION Points

Passion Points

On By BrianIn PASSION Points

Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:

The Character of the Christian: Generous – Tim Challies
It is the Christian’s duty and delight to hold loosely to wealth and to give generously to the Lord’s work. Any problem with money is not the fault of the money itself but with the sneaky, sinful human heart.

What if you’re not as awesome as you think you are? – Denny Burk
There is often a gap between the reality that God sees and the illusions that I sustain in thinking about myself.

25 Quick Tips and Reminders to Help Your Prayer Life – David Qaoud (GR)
17. Meditate on Scripture before prayer as a bridge into prayer.

Nine Questions to Help You Steward All of Your Life for God’s Glory – Brad Hambrick (BCC)
The main thing is to begin to have a vision for life that involves being God’s servant and actively engaging that vision where you are currently equipped.

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day celebrating our Lord’s resurrection with your local church!

Passion Points

On By BrianIn PASSION Points

Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:

The Character of the Christian: Temperate – Tim Challies
The Bible makes it crystal clear—God’s people are to be enslaved only to Jesus Christ. They are to resist any competitors, chief among them alcohol.

Rest in the Prince of Peace– Jon Bloom (DG)
An accurate gauge of our level of faith is how and how much we pray. A growing prayerful dependence on God is evidence of our growing spiritual maturity. And the more we pray in faith in everything, the more we experience the peace of God.

How To Be Conformed to the World – Tim Challies
Worldliness is like gravity, always there, always pushing down on you, always exerting its influence on you. As a Christian you are charged with resisting it day by day.

Beware the Black Hole of Time – Austin Brown (GR)
People get sucked away and lost forever on the second or third or fourth visit immediately following a church service (and especially during any waiting periods- like before a fellowship meal).  This is the black hole of time. Initial hellos have been said. Handshakes have been exchanged. So everything is supposedly good now. The regulars can do their regular things, and the visitors are supposed to feel at home.  But they don’t feel at home. Not even a little…. Let me encourage you to go out of your way to fill the black hole of time with warmth. Stay with the new people. Actively invite them to your table or sit down next to them. Go out of your comfort zone.  Can I say all that again? It is really quite important.  Stay with the new people. Be a good host. Take the time to hear their story and share yours. Ask good questions. Don’t leave them feeling awkward.

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day worshiping our great God and enjoying fellowship with His people!

Passion Points

On By BrianIn PASSION Points

Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:

How to Commune with Christ on a Crazy Day – David Mathis (Crossway)
Whatever the circumstances that throw a wrench into your routine, your crazy mornings raise the question, How should you think about, and engage in (if at all), the “spiritual disciplines”—or better yet, “the means of grace”—of Bible meditation and prayer when God’s good, but often inconvenient, sovereignty has you reeling without your routine?

The Character of the Christian: Hospitable – Tim Challies
An open home displays Christian love but it also enables it. Hospitality creates opportunities for relationship, for discipleship, and for evangelism. It creates a natural context for modeling marriage, parenting, and a host of Christian virtues. While we are to teach others what the Bible says, we are also to demonstrate what it says, and we do that by inviting people into our homes and into our lives.

The Character of the Christian: Gentle – Tim Challies
To be gentle is to be tender, humble, and fair, to know what posture and response is fitting for any occasion. It indicates a graciousness, a desire to extend mercy to others, and a desire to yield to both the will of God and the preferences of other people. Such gentleness will be expressed first in the home and only subsequently in the church. It is a rare trait, but one we know and love when we see and experience it.

Don’t Be Embarrassed by Your Ordinary Church – Erik Raymond
Is your church ordinary? Small? Well, my Christian friend, if it is preaching the gospel and endeavoring to help others to know and follow Jesus then it is not insignificant. It is powerfully important and surpassingly glorious. And, you should praise God for it–even as you get to work in it!

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day ready to worship and fellowship with your ordinary local church!

Passion Points

On By BrianIn PASSION Points

Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:

John Calvin’s 4 Rules of Prayer – Joel Beeke (Ligonier)
For John Calvin, prayer cannot be accomplished without discipline. He writes, “Unless we fix certain hours in the day for prayer, it easily slips from our memory.” He goes on to prescribe several rules to guide believers in offering effectual, fervent prayer.

The Character of the Christian: Sound Judgment – Tim Challies
When we put these traits together we see a person who has mastered his thinking and behavior so he is now capable of making wise judgments. His own life is a showcase of such wisdom.

Helping One Another Forsake Sin and Follow Jesus – Randy Alcorn
We should share the truth with humility, as an act of grace, reminding ourselves and each other that we desperately need God’s grace every bit as much as do those we’re offering it to.

How to Have Intimacy with God– Jon Bloom (DG)
The secret to drawing near to God and having him draw near to us is revealed clearly in the Bible: we draw near to God through faith in Christ who alone gives us access to him…

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day!

Passion Points

On By BrianIn PASSION Points

Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:

The Character of the Christian: A One-Woman Man – Tim Challies
Thus this qualification is a call to devotion—devotion first to God and then to a God-given spouse.

Private Prayer Walk – Jordan Monson (DG)
Pray without distraction. The message is the same, but the means have reversed. One of the best ways to close the door in the 21st century is to open the door and leave your home to go on a prayer walk.

8 Ways to Grow in the Fear of God – Albert Martin (via Tim Challies)
Learn to feed your soul on the majestic greatness of God. By that, I mean those aspects of His character and attributes such as His absolute sovereignty, holiness, power, omnipotence, and immensity. As we contemplate His majestic greatness, it is unthinkable that any rational creature would not fear such a God.

The Best Day of the Week – Nick Kennicott (TCC)
Lord’s Day worship isn’t a burden to endure, but a joyful offering from God to receive. Christians don’t put aside their earthly cares each week to earn God’s favor, but to enjoy worshipping the God whose favor has already been granted in Jesus Christ. It is a true delight to forego even the best worldly endeavors for the day, without feeling any sense of guilt for being lazy or uncaring, to revel in the heavenly things of God which are the truest and greatest treasure for any Christian.

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day!

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!

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!

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!

Passion Posts

On By BrianIn PASSION Points

Here are some really good posts for your weekend reading:

You Were Made for the Godward Life – John Piper (DG)
A Godward life is lived leaning toward God. We turn our face toward him and not away from him. We enjoy the consciousness of his presence moment by moment. We remember him and do not forget him. At every turn of the day, we put our trust in him.

Why You Should Be Praying the Psalms – Don Whitney (CBS)
Praying the Bible means talking to God about what comes to mind as you read the Bible. Usually you might read the passage first, then go back and pray through what you just read.

When Routines Become Idols – Christina Fox (CBMW)
Some of us are so attached to and defined by our routines that we can’t stand when they are interrupted, changed, or tampered with in any way. That’s because of what our routines represent to us. Comfort. Ease. Control. Peace. When we trust in our routines and cling to them, we are relying on them to give us comfort.

When Your Heart Isn’t In It – Joe Thorn (FTC)
We are made by our triune God to worship him in spirit and truth. In him we find grace and mercy and fullness of life. He speaks in his word, hears our prayers, and delights in our songs of praise. And when we engage in these disciplines by faith we are sanctified. We experience more grace. And despite all of this we sometimes just don’t want to do it.

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day!

Passion Points

On By BrianIn PASSION Points

Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:

What Is Reformation Day All About? – Robert Rothwell (Ligonier)
But what is the significance of Reformation Day, and how should we consider the events it commemorates?

Reformation Day: Jesus Came Knocking – Jon Bloom (DG)
In fact, given the prosperity that most of us in the West are experiencing and the arid spiritual climate most of us live in, it may be that the best way we can observe Reformation Day is to do some serious, prayerful soul-searching….  And we should ask ourselves, is Jesus knocking — or pounding — on our door? Are we hearing him? Are we ignoring or even resisting him? Are we tolerating and justifying any idols? 

How To Lose Your Zeal for Christ – Tim Challies
Are you zealous for Christ? Do you have a genuine zeal to live for him and to advance his cause in the world? Or have you lost the zeal that once marked you?

Two Ways To Sing To God – Joel Limpic (D&T)
Psalm 81:1 commands us to “sing for joy.” How does this command play itself out practically in our worlds, particularly when we feel joyless? I want to propose that to fully embrace this command, we must learn to sing in two ways: from affection and for affection.

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day singing for joy to the Lord!