Category: PASSION Points

Passion Points

On By BrianIn PASSION Points

Here are some good posts addressing the important issue of sin in our lives:

What Does Jesus Do With Sin? – Jared Wilson
Here are 6 things Jesus does with sin.

Steps to Overcome Temptation – D. A. Carson (via Desiring God)
Carson talks about some simultaneous steps to take for overcoming temptation, including a deepening delight in Jesus.

I Chose To Sin – Tim Challies
If I sin today—when I sin today—it is not because I had to or because anyone forced me to, but only because I chose to.

4 Reasons People Backslide – Tim Challies
Here are four reasons that people backslide.

How to Backslide in 9 Easy Steps – Tim Challies
1. Stop meditating on the gospel. “They draw off their thoughts, all that they may, from the remembrance of God, death, and judgment to come.”

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day growing in your delight of our Lord and your hatred for sin as you gather together with your local church family!

Passion Points: Idolatry

On By BrianIn Idolatry, PASSION Points

For your weekend reading, we return to the important issue of idolatry: placing ourselves or something else before God.

We Are Not God – John Piper (via Tim Challies)
But when humans forsake their Maker and love other things more, they become like the things they love—small, insignificant, weightless, inconsequential, and God-diminishing.

Same-Sex Marriage Make a Lot of Sense – Michael Horton
If God exists for our happiness and self-fulfillment, validating our sovereign right to choose our identity, then opposition to same-sex marriage (or abortion) is just irrational prejudice.

Why Idolatry Was (And Is) Attractive – Kevin DeYoung
Can you see the attraction of idolatry? “Let’s see I want a spirituality that gets me lots, costs me little, is easy to see, easy to do, has few ethical or doctrinal boundaries, guarantees me success, feels good, and doesn’t offend those around me.”

That Idol That You Love Doesn’t Love You Back – Justin Buzzard (via Crossway)
Here’s what you need to know about your idol: That idol that you love, it doesn’t love you back. False gods don’t love you. Idols don’t keep their promises. Anything you worship and build your life on other than God will suck the life out of you and destroy you.

Or as Psalm 115:2-8 so well puts it:

  Why should the nations say,
  “Where is their God?”
 Our God is in the heavens;
  he does all that he pleases.
  Their idols are silver and gold,
  the work of human hands.
 They have mouths, but do not speak;
  eyes, but do not see.
 They have ears, but do not hear;
  noses, but do not smell.
 They have hands, but do not feel;
  feet, but do not walk;
  and they do not make a sound in their throat.
 Those who make them become like them;
  so do all who trust in them.

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day with your church family worshipping the one true God!

Passion Points

On By BrianIn PASSION Points1 Comment

Here are some good posts for your weekend:

Don’t worry…
Eight Reasons Why My Anxiety is Pointless and Foolish – Justin Taylor
Exactly what the title says!

…be happy
The Road to Happiness Part One and Part Two – Paul Tautges
Jesus defines the path to happiness very differently than the world does.

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day rejoicing in the Lord with his people!

Passion Points

On By BrianIn PASSION Points

Here are some good posts focusing on specific sins which undoubtedly tempt many of us:

Do You Take Irritibility Seriously? – Phil Ryken (via Crossway)
A helpful exploration of a common sin.  One quote:  We should take our irritability much more seriously, because it is the very opposite of love.

The Lost Sin of Envy
How Envy Behaves
What Envy Wants
This is a challenging three part series by Tim Challies.  One quote:  When you are proud you compare yourself with another person and there are only two possible outcomes: If you believe you come out on top, you feel even more pride; if you believe you come out on the bottom, you feel envy. Envy comes when Pride is wounded.

Pride and Humility – Tim Challies
It appears I’m not the only one focusing on pride and humility.  Challies surveys the definitions of pride and humility from Mack, Mahaney, and several others, and then gives a helpful summary.

Finally, let me share a quote from John Piper in A God Entranced Vision of All Things:
The power of sin comes from its promise of pleasure and is meant to be defeated by the superior promise of pleasure in God.

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day with God’s people enjoying the superior pleasure found in our Lord!

Passion Points

On By BrianIn Idolatry, PASSION Points

I was gone the past week to attend the RHMA Small Town Pastor/Wife Conference with my wife.  I hope to share some highlights next week.  In the meantime, here are some good posts for your weekend reading:

When I Am God – Tim Challies
How life changes when we try to make ourselves God instead of acknowledging the one true God.

Praying Past Our Preferred Outcomes – Nancy Guthrie (via Gospel Coalition)
Related to the post before, am I willing to pray for God’s will in my concerns?

Christ-Centered Accountability – Jared Wilson
A good consideration of helpful and not-so-helpful accountability.

Keep Looking Unto Jesus – J. C. Ryle Quotes
Keep on looking unto Jesus. Faith shall soon be changed to sight, and hope to certainty.

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day with your local church celebrating the one true God!

Passion Points

On By BrianIn PASSION Points

Here are some good posts on overcoming sin and walking in holiness:

Jonathan Dodson has a three part series on overcoming sin:
Know Your Sin
Fight Your Sin
Trust Your Savior, Not Your Efforts

Kevin DeYoung offers an Anatomy of Holiness, looking at what holiness is as it relates to our bodies.

Finally, Trevin Wax offers a prayer for Grace To Love What God Commands.

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day growing in your love for God and His commands!

Passion Points

On By BrianIn PASSION Points

Here are some good thoughts on our Savior for the weekend:

He is the Radiance of the Glory of God – Jared Wilson
Considering the glorious radiance of Jesus.

The Cross as the Scepter – Leo the Great (via Trevin Wax)
An interesting take on Jesus carrying his cross.

On the Third Day – Jim Hamilton (via Crossway)
And interesting look at the pattern of the third day through Scripture.

Only Christ Can Provide Real Comfort – J. C. Ryle Quotes
“There is a gulf in your heart which nothing but Christ can fill.”

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day celebrating our radiant, reigning, risen Savior!

Passion Points – Easter Weekend

On By BrianIn Holidays, PASSION Points

Here are some posts on the death and resurrection of our Savior for your weekend reading:

His Death

Go To Dark Gethsemane – Kevin DeYoung

The Cross Offers A Glimpse Into The Heart Of God – Trevin Wax

May Christ’s Shed Blood Make Me… – Puritan Prayer (via Trevin Wax)

His Resurrection

The Resurrection: The Reason For Hope – D. A. Carson (via Crossway)

The Neglected Resurrection – Matthre Barrett (via The Gospel Coalition)

Easter and the Great Wedding To Come – Jason Johnson (via The Gospel Coalition)

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day celebrating the resurrection of our Savior!  He Is Risen!

Passion Points

On By BrianIn PASSION Points

Let’s do numbers this weekend:

7 Motives in Our Work – We spend a lot of our lives working, but too many people live for the weekends when they can escape work.  Here are seven motives to spur us on in our work.

36 Purposes of God in Our Suffering – Your suffering has a purpose!  Read through this list, and be encouraged at what God is doing in you.

10 Marks of the Holy Spirit in a Believer – Do you see the Holy Spirit working in your life?

7 Questions to Ask As You Prepare for the Lord’s Supper – These are great questions to use to examine your life.  I suspect the answers will not only spur you forward, but also make you incredibly grateful for the forgiveness that is ours in Christ.  I just made a copy for my own personal use.

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

 

Passion Points

On By BrianIn PASSION Points1 Comment

Here are some good posts to ponder for your weekend reading:

Head and Heart – Jason Helopoulos
Truth and affection are essential for Christian maturity.

When Good Lives Are Bad News – Tim Chester
Beware of our tendency to try to be our own Savior.

How Does The Trinity Practically Apply To Your Life Today – Ryken/LeFebvre
The Trinity is more than a doctrine; the Triune God affects our daily lives.

On Your Face Before God, On Your Feet for His Mission – Trevin Wax
The greatness of God compels us to tell others.

A Christian Is A Person Who Cannot Be Conquered – Jared Wilson
When God is our all in all, we have nothing to lose.

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