Conference Considerations

On By BrianIn Church Life1 Comment

Last week I attended the RHMA Small Town Pastors’ Conference in Illinois with my wife.  Here are a few take-home points:

  • I am useless on my own, but God can use me.
  • I need to seriously pray for situations instead of rashly attacking problems in my own strength.
  • I must minister out of love, not anger.  Regular forgiveness is essential.
  • I must trust God in times of opposition.

Prayer Guide

On By BrianIn Prayer Guides

Our church joined with our three sister churches last night for a great time of praising God with singing and testimonies.  We closed with a time of small group prayer.  Below was our prayer guide.  I wonder what God might do if these requests rose to the top of our personal and corporate prayers.

·        Pray for a growing passion for God, His Word, and prayer.

·        Pray for a growing hunger and thirst for righteousness.

·        Pray for solid teaching, growth, and fruit.

·        Pray for growing love and care for each other.

·        Pray for revival in our churches.

·        Pray for a growing passion for evangelism and missions.

·        Pray for personal and church-wide opportunities for evangelism.

·        Pray for a willingness to go, and boldness and wisdom for sharing the gospel.

·        Pray for a great spiritual awakening in our communities. 

·        Pray for the persecuted church to be strengthened with power to persevere with joy.

·        Pray for strength, safety, health, and opportunities to spread the gospel for missionaries and the church around the world.

·        Pray for missions to people groups having no gospel witness.

·        Pray for a great spiritual awakening around the world.

Passion Points

On By BrianIn PASSION Points

Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:

Renew Within Me a Spirit of Holiness – Ambrose of Milan (via Trevin Wax)
As you look upon the wretched creature that I am,
I ask that your eyes be filled with compassion and forgiveness.
And as I sit at your table,
I beg you to renew within me a spirit of holiness.

7 Directives for Meditating on Scripture – Joel Beeke and Terry Slachter (via Paul Tautges)
#5: Stir up affections such as love, desire, hope, zeal, and joy to glorify God. Preach the truth to your own soul (Ps 42:5; 103:1).

What Shames Us – Tim Challies
The challenge for each one of us who desires to be godly is not only to identify the sin in our lives, but to identify the better and holier trait. And this, this fruit of the Spirit, this evidence of God’s grace, is what we aim for in our desires, in our prayers, in our labors.

Waiting, Wasting, Wandering – Kevin DeYoung
Can you believe that God has something good in store for you? Will you trust that someday when you see your beginning and middle with the ending in view that it will all make sense? Can you hope against hope that God has not forgotten you, that his promises are true, and that he is up to something? He was for Abraham and Joseph and Moses. Why not you too?

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

Revolves Around Who?

On By BrianIn PASSION Quotes

GospelDrivenWe want to make the world and everyone in it revolve around us: our likes and dislikes, our comfort zones, and our felt needs.  God demands that we acknowledge what is simply the fact of the case: namely, that he is the one by whom, in whom, for whom, and through whom all things exist. 

– Michael Horton in The Gospel-Driven Life

A New Script

On By BrianIn PASSION Quotes

GospelDrivenThe Good News is not just a series of facts to which we yield our assent but a dramatic narrative that replots our identity.  Think of it in terms of a theatrical play.  Each week we come to church with our own scripts.  If yours is anything like mine, it’s “the show about nothing.”  Yet God descends to give us a new script: a rich plot in which our original character dies and is raised with the lead character.  Instead of trying to find a supporting role for God in our play, God writes us into his script as part of a growing cast for his new world.

– Michael Horton in The Gospel-Driven Life

Full of Faith

On By BrianIn Book of Acts1 Comment

In Acts 6, we were told that Stephan was a man full of faith.  And so as Stephen nears the end of his life in Acts 7, it should be no surprise to us that we find him full of faith.  He is full of faith and we too should be full of faith in:

  • The Promise of Heaven – He cries out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” (v59).  He is confident that his spirit is going to be with Jesus in heaven.  And his confidence is not found in himself or his good works, but in the one he addresses – in Jesus.  When the stones are flying in our lives, we need this faith in the promise of heaven.  We need to be able to look past the trials to the reward when there will be no more flying stones.  And when the final stone is flying, and it is our time to die, we need that faith in Jesus who promises heaven for his people.
  • The Providence of God – Stephan prays that the Lord will not hold this sin against his attackers (v60).  How can he forgive as the stones are flying?  Because he believes God is in control.  Like in Joseph’s life, what they meant for evil, God would use for good.  He was trusting in God’s plan for him even if it meant his death.  When the stones are flying in our lives, we too need this faith in God’s providence.  We too need to trust God when the situation makes no sense to us.
  • The Priority of Jesus – His approach to Christianity was not tacking Jesus onto his story to make his life better.  If his story was central, he couldn’t stand as the stones are flying because his story was ending.  But he understood the priority of Jesus.  It was all about Jesus – the one Stephen had been proclaiming.  Stephen had been tacked onto Jesus’ story, and that story would continue when Stephen died.  When the stones are flying in our lives, we need this faith in the priority of Jesus – that it is all about him, and our purpose is simply to point to him.
  • The Presence of God – Stephen saw Jesus.  He knew God was with him, and that gave him strength to persevere.  When the stones are flying in our lives, we may not see a vision like Stephen did, but we need that firm faith in God’s presence with us.  And because God is with us, we can be strong and courageous when the stones are flying.