Passion Points

On January 18, 2014 By BrianIn PASSION Points

It has been a busy couple of weeks, but hopefully I’ll be posting at least a couple of time each week again. Thanks to all who read and show an interest in this blog. Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:

Six ways to look godly while not growing your faith in 2014 – Carl Laferton (thegoodbook)
So here, for 2014, are six more ways to look great while doing little…

5 Ways to Pray for Your Pastor in 2014 – Nicholas Batzig (Ligonier)
The shepherd needs the prayers of the sheep as much as they need his prayers. He also is one of Christ’s sheep, and is susceptible to the same weaknesses. While there are many things one could pray for pastors, here are five straightforward Scriptural categories….

8 Characteristics of Sanctification – Dustin Crowe (Gospel Centered Discipleship)
Gospel-centered sanctification tethers becoming (growing) to being (identity) by making Christ’s accomplishments and provision for us the catalyst of our lives. Here are eight characteristics of gospel-centered sanctification that frame our theology of the doctrine while also steering our practice….

A Theological Toolbox – Tim Challies
There are two grids I’ve found especially helpful, and ones I return to again and again, not only in my own life, but also as I interact with others….

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day worshiping the One who is enthroned in the heavens!

Passion Points

On December 14, 2013December 6, 2014 By BrianIn PASSION Points

Here are some good posts for you weekend reading. They are also very important posts to consider – the wisdom within them could save all of us much grief.

The Road to Apostasy – Ordinary Pastor
First let me give you a bottom line proposition: The road to apostasy is paved by bricks of apathy towards Christ. If you want to persevere, then give attention to your affections. This is a summary. Let’s work it out.

The Scandal of the Semi-Churched – Kevin DeYoung
I’m not talking about nominal Christians who wander into church once or twice a year. I’m talking about people who went through the trouble of joining a church, like their church, have no particular beef with the church, and still only darken its doors once or twice a month.

A Better Country for Old Men – David Mathis (Desiring God)
This is a plea from the younger generation to the older. We desperately need you.

Nothing Else Does Nor Shall Delight Me – Thomas a’ Kempis (via Trevin Wax)
…let others seek what they please instead of You,
but as for me, nothing else does nor shall delight me,
but You only, my God, my hope, my eternal salvation.

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

Passion Points

On December 7, 2013December 6, 2014 By BrianIn PASSION Points

Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:

Sloth – Mike Wittmer
I’ve spoken of sloth because I suspect it lies at the root of many people’s crisis of faith. More people shrug away their faith than are argued out of it.

What He Could Have Been – Tim Challies
I have been reflecting recently that some of the greatest evidences of God’s grace in the life of the Christian are the things that person could be or inevitably would be without the active presence of the Holy Spirit and without a commitment to the pursuit of holiness.

12 Reasons You Should Pray Scripture – Andrew Naselli (Themelios)
So why should you pray Scripture? For at least twelve reasons….

Four Little Words – Julian Freeman
Customs start with single acts. Good customs start with single acts of conscious obedience. So … where will you be this Sunday?

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

Passion Points

On November 30, 2013 By BrianIn Holidays, PASSION Points

Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:

Christian Christmas Grinches – Kevin DeYoung
If the disciples were to rejoice when the Bridegroom was with them, surely we can do better than to be outraged sourpusses every year when we commemorate his coming.

When Black Friday Becomes a Mission – Jon Bloom (DG)
With the Christmas season and all its commercial blitz and glitz upon us (seen especially on Black Friday), let’s lay aside the grousing and see the grace.

4 Questions to Ask Your Money – Tim Challies
Someone once drew my attention to four questions to ask when I am about to make a purchase—any purchase. Looking back, I can see how much better I am at managing money when I keep questions like these in mind….

How Vast the Sufferings – Joseph Swain (via Trevin Wax)
How vast the sufferings, who can tell,
When Jesus fought sin, death, and hell,
And was in battle slain?
How great the triumph, who can sing,
When from the grave the immortal King
Triumphant rose again?

Yet we’ll attempt His name to bless,
While we pass through the wilderness
To Canaan’s happy shore.
But when we reach the plains above,
And every breath we draw is love,
We’ll sing His glories more.

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day attempting to bless the name of Jesus!

Passion Points

On November 16, 2013 By BrianIn PASSION Points

Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:

O Jesus, King Most Wonderful – Bernard of Clairvaux (via Trevin Wax)
O Jesus, King most wonderful,
Thou Conqueror renowned,
Thou Sweetness most ineffable,
In Whom all joys are found….

10 Love Challenges – David Murray
Yesterday I gave my congregation 10 Love Challenges that translate the sometimes nebulous idea of love into very practical, do-able actions….

Why Satan Might Not Be Tempting Us – Gary Thomas
Sometimes, I’m reading one of the Christian classics and I find myself saying, even out loud, “Ouch.” That happened to me once when I was spending time with John Wesley. His insight was so heavy and so unique, it just about knocked me out of my chair….

You Do Not Labor in Vain – Dan Doriani (GC)
Jesus will bless the faithful: “I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. . . . I was sick and you looked after me.” We will say, “When?” Probably at work. At work we have the greatest skill, training, time, and resources. If, by faith, we strive to love God and neighbors at work, then we serve him. And he will remember it forever.

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day loving God and your brothers and sisters in Christ!

Passion Points

On November 9, 2013December 6, 2014 By BrianIn PASSION Points

Here are some helpful posts on getting into the Word for your weekend reading:

7 Arrows for Bible Reading – Matt Rogers (via Trevin Wax)
A helpful approach for digging into the Word on your own or in a group.

How To Be Better Bereans (Part One, Part Two, and Part Three) – Kevin DeYoung
The Jews in Berea, it is said, were more noble than those in Thessalonica, for “they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so” (Acts 17:11). How telling–for them and for us–that nobility is measured not by titles, land, parentage, wealth, or degrees, but by how we handle the word of God. Our approach to the Scriptures sets us apart as riff-raff or royalty. So how do we become better Bereans?

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day digging into the Word!

Passion Points

On November 2, 2013 By BrianIn PASSION Points

Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:

Five Facts About Loving God – Jason DeRouchie (Desiring God)
With an echo of the call to love God with all, Moses opens Deuteronomy 10 by calling Israel to maintain radical God-centeredness (Deuteronomy 10:12–13). Yahweh is always to be the blazing center in his people’s solar system. He then notes that such wholehearted, life-encompassing allegiance to God was warranted from Israel because he created them and because he rescued them from Egyptian slavery (Deuteronomy 10:14–15). In light of these truths, Moses then applies the call to radical love for God into Israel’s everyday lives, and in the process, he reveals how far they were from God’s ideal. I see five significant points regarding love for God in these verses….

The Christian Traveller – Jeremy Walker (Reformation 21)
Looking about me, I was struck by the prominent ways and means in words and in deeds by which various of my fellow wanderers were proclaiming their personal identity and spiritual allegiance…. All of which fascinating tableau left me asking, “By what means should I, as a Christian traveller, communicate my personal identity and spiritual allegiance?”

What You Should Say After Every Week of Work – Trevin Wax
And like I do every week, I will whisper to myself as I walk out the door: “And God saw that it was good.”

9 Things You Should Know About Persecution of Christians in 2013 – Joe Carter (GC)
Christians are the single most widely persecuted religious group in the world today. As we pray for the persecuted church, here are nine things you should know about the plight of believers around the globe….

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day of rest and prayer!

Passion Points

On October 19, 2013December 6, 2014 By BrianIn PASSION Points

Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:

Do People Bark? – John Starke (Gospel Coalition)
Christians base the dignity of a “person” on the imago Dei. Created in the image of God, humans have been given status and dignity above all other creatures in this world. We’ve been given the ability to make sense of the world and make something of it.

A Friend of Sinners and No Friend of Sin – Kevin DeYoung
The gospel–if we are talking about the true gospel–works through repentance and relationships. We need both. Jesus had relationships with sinners and tax collectors. And through those relationships what did he call them to do? He didn’t say call them to self-expression, or invite them to despise religious people, or summon them to eat, drink, and be merry (in our language: eat, drink, and be tolerant). He called them to repentance. One commentator says, “Jesus neither condoned sin, left people in their sin, nor communicated any disdain for sinners.”

The Loving Intolerance of God – Melissa Kruger (Gospel Coalition)
The cross demonstrates God’s character in all its complexity. It shows his love, kindness, and mercy united with his justice, holiness, and wrath. It perfectly demonstrates a God who surpasses understanding. The Lord is giving us a glimpse into the immensity of his love for us. The love of God is not a tolerant love. It is much better. It is a redemptive love.

What Makes A Full Atonement Full? – Mike Wittmer (Gospel Coalition)
The cross isn’t an act of love without penal substitution, because love is only love if it does something. If the cross isn’t necessary for God to forgive us, then what would be the point? If the cross is merely God expressing his solidarity with sinners, then why didn’t he simply use his outdoor voice and say, “Attention, people of Earth! I love you and I’m on your side!” The Father was silent when his Son begged for any other way, which proves that God believes the cross was necessary to defeat sin, death, and Satan.

Light Eternal, Shine in My Heart – Alcuin of York, 735-804 A.D. (via Trevin Wax)
Give me, O Lord, I ask You, firm faith, unwavering hope, perfect charity…

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day celebrating our great God and Savior!