Category: Holidays

Planning for the New Year

On By BrianIn Holidays

It is that time of year again when many, myself included, make New Year resolutions.
How do we want the coming year to look different from the past?
How do we want, by God’s grace, to change?
How might God wand us to grow this year?
In what ways will we seek to train ourselves for godliness (I Timothy 4:7)?
Below are several helpful links.

Questions for the New Year – Donald Whitney provides several helpful questions to help us think about the new year.

New Years Resolutions – Here are the categories I use as I think about the coming year.

Jonathan Edwards’ Resolutions – Sometimes it helps to see what others resolved to do.

Resolution Principles – Ten helpful principles for making and keeping resolutions.

How to Make Your Resolutions Stick – Mike Cosper offers four very good principles for actually keeping your resolutions.

Your Most Courageous Resolution for 2014 – Jon Bloom challenges us to make love our goal for 2014.

May we press forward this year in following Christ for the glory of God!

Passion Points

On 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!

Reformation Day

On By BrianIn Holidays

What is Reformation Day all about?  Robert Rothwell writes: Tomorrow, much of the culture will be focused on candy and things that go bump in the night. Protestants, however, have something far more significant to celebrate on October 31. Tomorrow is Reformation day, which commemorates what was perhaps the greatest move of God’s Spirit since the days of the Apostles. But what is the significance of Reformation Day, and how should we consider the events it commemorates?  You can read the rest here.

Passion Points – Graduation

On By BrianIn Holidays, PASSION Points

It is graduation times, so here are some wise posts for graduates – and really all of us – to consider this weekend:

12 Things to Do After Graduating – Matt Jenson (Gospel Coalition)

Preparing College Students for Graduation – Kevin DeYoung

You’ve Been Sent – You Just Don’t Know It – Stephen Witmer (Gospel Coalition)

If King Solomon Gave a Commencement Speech – Joe Carter (Gospel Coalition)

How the World Can Shipwreck a Young Christian – R. C. Ryle

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day with your church family in true worship of our Lord!

Pentecost Sunday

On By BrianIn Holidays

Tomorrow is Pentecost Sunday – the day we remember the coming of the Spirit.  Where would we be without the Spirit?

  • It is the Spirit who applies Christ’s salvation to us (I Corinthians 6:11, Titus 3:5-7).
  • It is the Spirit who helps and teaches us (John 14:26).
  • It is the Spirit who intercedes for us (Romans 8:26).
  • It is the Spirit who sanctifies us – making us holy and producing in us the “fruit of the Spirit” (I Peter 1:2, Galatians 5:22-23)
  • It is the Spirit who is the guarantee of our inheritance (Ephesians 1:13-14).

We have so many reasons to celebrate the coming of the Spirit!

For more on this, consider: A Pentecost to Celebrate – Ryan Griffith (Desiring God)

Ascension Sunday

On By BrianIn Holidays

Tomorrow is an important day.  Most know it as Mother’s Day, but it is also Ascension Sunday.  Though often overlooked, the ascension is an essential part of the work of Christ.  Consider just four results of the ascension:

  • The Spirit has come (John 16:5-7)
  • Jesus reigns over all (Ephesians 1:20-23)
  • Jesus intercedes for us (Hebrews 7:25)
  • Jesus is preparing a place for us (John 14:3)

For a further look at the ascension, you might consider the following:

Hope you have a great day celebrating the ascension of our Lord and Savior!

Passion Points

On By BrianIn Holidays, PASSION Points1 Comment

Here are some good posts for your Easter Weekend reading:

9 Things You Should Know About Holy Week – Joe Carter (via Gospel Coalition)
Holy Week is the week before Easter, a period which includes the religious holidays of Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. Here’s what you should know about the days that commemorate the Passion of Christ…

Take Time to Stop – Trevin Wax
The best way to celebrate this week is to sense the stopping of time, and to remember the moments at the heart of our faith. To simply marvel at the Word of God and what these precious events mean. To listen for the Old Testament echoes, to catch the Old Testament overtones and familiar melodies that resound through the Gospel writers’ symphony of the cross. To look at Jesus – the One crucified in our place, who loved us and died for us.

Christ Forsaken – Joel Beeke (Ligonier)
The great High Priest enters Golgotha’s Holy of Holies without friends or enemies. The Son of God is alone on the cross for three final hours, enduring what defies our imagination. Experiencing the full brunt of His Father’s wrath, Jesus cannot stay silent. He cries out: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

Why the Resurrection Changes Everything – Matthew Barrett (via Gospel Coalition)
Because Christ is risen, we, as those who are in Christ, have every assurance that our labor in sharing this gospel of the risen Christ is not pointless or without purpose, but will matter for all eternity. Therefore, do not forget this Easter that the resurrection of Christ changes everything. Without it, we have no gospel, no salvation, no saving message, and certainly no future hope.

Hope you have a great weekend celebrating the death and resurrection of Jesus.

He is risen.  He is risen indeed!

The Thief and Us

On By BrianIn Book of Luke, Holidays

The thief on the cross gives us a good look at the cross and at ourselves.

His Crime and Ours (v32) – Luke calls him a criminal or lawbreaker.  In Matthew, he is called thief or rebel.  His crime is ours.  We too are all lawbreakers – breaking the law of God.  We are thieves.  God created us to live for his glory and we live for our own – stealing God of the glory he deserves in our lives.  We are rebels against our Creator.  This is our crime.

His Sight and Ours (v33) – The thief is hung on a cross next to Jesus.  If the thief turned his head he could see the suffering of Jesus.  He could see Jesus’ back ripped open from the lashings.  He could see Jesus’ head pierced by the thorns.  He could see Jesus’ agony as he hung on the cross striving for breath.  May his sight be ours.  It is good for us to stop and see the suffering of our Savior, to remember what he endured for us.  May this be our sight.

His Need and Ours (v34) – The thief hears the words of Jesus as he asks the Father to forgive those who hung him there.  This was the thief’s need too – to be forgiven of his sins.  To be forgiven of his crimes, his law-breaking, his thievery, his rebellion.  His need is ours.  We too need to be forgiven for our disobedience and rebellion.  We too need to have our sin and guilt washed away.  This is our need.

His Mocking and Ours (v35-38) – The thief hears the rulers and soldiers mocking Jesus.  In Matthew 27, we read that both criminals joined in the mocking.  Before he repented, this thief ridiculed Jesus like all the others.  Perhaps his mockery was yours.  At one time you mocked, you ridiculed, you scoffed at Jesus being your Savior.  Was this your mockery?

His Change and Ours (v39-40) – As they hang there the on those crosses, the other thief continues to mock, but something happens to the thief we are considering.  He has an incredible change of heart.  He stops ridiculing Jesus and starts rebuking the other thief.  What brought such a change?  Grace.  God graciously changed his heart.  His change is ours.  We too were changed by God’s grace.  This is our change.

His Sentence and Ours (v40) – The thief was under a sentence of condemnation.  He was dying for what he had done.  His sentence was ours.  We too were under a sentence of condemnation for our sins.  The wrath of God laid heavy upon us – we too deserved to die.  This was our sentence.

His Confession and Ours (v41) – The thief confesses that he is a criminal, a sinner.  He confesses that he deserves the punishment he is receiving.  His confession is ours.  We too confess that we are sinners deserving God’s punishment.  This is our confession.

His Cry and Ours (v42) – The thief cries out for Jesus to remember him.  This is a cry of faith.  He can do nothing to save himself, and so he looks to Jesus.  He puts his trust in Jesus.  His cry is ours.  We too cry out to God in faith, trusting in him alone to save us.  This is our cry.

His Hope and Ours (v43) – Finally the thief hears the promise of Jesus that gives him hope.  Jesus promises that the thief will be with him in paradise that very day.  His hope is ours.  In the midst of trials and in the face of death, our hope is that we will one day be with Jesus in paradise with no more suffering or pain or death.  This is our hope.

In the thief we see ourselves.  We see our crime, our mocking, our sentence, and our need of forgiveness.  We see our Savior’s suffering, our change by grace, our confession, our cry of faith, and our hope that comes through the cross of Jesus.

Some Easter Posts

On By BrianIn Holidays, PASSION Collections

My top-viewed post for the last few weeks has been an Easter timeline and map that I found a few years back, which you can find here.

Also worth reviewing are 10 Questions to Ask at Easter Gatherings from Donald Whitney.

And then this brief video is worth watching every year too: It’s Friday…But Sunday’s Coming!

Resolutions Resources

On By BrianIn Holidays

Tis that time of year when many, myself included, make New Year resolutions.  How do we want the coming year to look different from the past?  Below are several helpful links.

Questions for the New Year – Donald Whitney provides several questions to help us think about the new year.

New Years Resolutions – Here are the categories I use as I think about the coming year.

Jonathan Edwards’ Resolutions – Sometimes it helps to see what others resolved to do.

A New Years Day Challenge – A good challenge from R. C. Ryle for any day of the year.

Resolution Principles – Ten helpful principles for making and keeping resolutions.

How to Make Your Resolutions Stick – Mike Cosper offers four very good principles for actually keeping your resolutions.

My we press forward this year in following Christ for the glory of God!