Passion Points

On By BrianIn PASSION Points

Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:

The Offensively Ordinary Steps to Godliness – Scott Hubbard (DG)
The pursuit of holiness, then, is both easier and harder than many of us imagine: Easier because our growth in grace often happens gradually, one small step at a time. Harder because sanctification has now invaded all of life. Holiness is hidden in offensively ordinary tasks, and those tasks are all around us.

Gratitude Leads to Joy – Gavin Ortlund
What I have been experiencing is that this simple habit of directing our focus on the good things in my life has the most incredible power to create joy.

6 Powerful Keys To Overcoming Anger – Mark Altrogge
Here is the most helpful question to ask ourselves when we are feeling angry: What is it that I want right now that I’m not getting?

3 Reasons Drifting From the Faith Starts With Drifting From the Church – Michael Kelley
We must not abandon the church if we want to persevere in the faith. We must keep going to keep ourselves going. The church is God’s gift to us – each one of us – not so that we have a perfect experience there, but because we are weak, and we really do need the help.

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

Declaring the Glory

On By BrianIn Declaring the Glory

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Rocky Mountains surrounding Ouray, CO

The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
– Psalm 19:1

For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature,
have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world,
in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
– Romans 1:20

Passion Points

On By BrianIn PASSION Points

Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:

What Dulls Your Appetite for God? – Marshall Segal (DG)
We are prone to let the pleasures and burdens of daily life become excuses for putting off Christ and his commands. When the cost of discipleship rises, when the cross we bear weighs heavier and heavier, we are tempted to scramble for excuses not to come.

Scripture Before Phone, and Other Habits That Could Change Your Life – Trevin Wax
We underestimate the power of habits, especially those we adopt unconsciously, as a result of our busy and hurried lives. We like to think of ourselves as spontaneous and authentic in our worship and work, when in reality we’re enslaved to habits and patterns that dominate our waking moments. As a consequence, we are wonderless in an age of wonders. Our technology has only freed us up . . . to live like slaves.

Lord, Deliver Me from Distraction – Jon Bloom (DG)
We’re becoming conditioned to distraction, and it’s harming our ability to listen and think carefully, to be still, to pray, and to meditate. Which means it is a spiritual danger, an evil from which we need God’s deliverance.

How to Encourage that Preacher – Tim Challies
These are just a few examples of the kind of encouragement preachers love to hear. I expect you’ve noticed that the best ways to encourage a pastor about his preaching are also the best ways to personally gain the most benefit from it. Prepare yourself to bring this kind of encouragement and you’ll prepare yourself to see Jesus instead of the preacher, to better understand the passage, to apply it to your life, and to discuss it with others so you can apply it together.

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day hungry for God and His Word!

Passion Points

On By BrianIn PASSION Points

Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:

God Has a Plan Through Your Life – Trevin Wax
We might say, then, that God doesn’t have just a plan for your life, but also a plan through your life. His master plan involves not only the circumstances you will confront, but also the good works you will accomplish. God will bless others through you.

What I Pack In My Spiritual First Aid Kit – Tim Challies
As I journey round the world, I know I need to carry a medical first aid kit with me. As I journey through this life, I know I need the spiritual equivalent. It has served me well and, I trust, will continue to as I plod on in this great pilgrimage.

What Our Anger Is Telling Us – Jonathan Parnell (DG)
If we find ourselves angry about getting snubbed in social media, or being cut off in traffic, or going unrecognized for work, or having an idea shut down, or feeling underappreciated by our spouse — the problem might be that we love ourselves too much.

Enjoy Your Summer Vacation—Just Don’t Vacate The Church – Benjamin Inglas (TGC)
The last few years, however, I’ve noticed a trend. It almost seems that as students return home, cottages open, and lakes warm up, Christians begin to adopt a vacational mindset towards the church. The problem here is not planning a few weeks away with the family but the symptoms that emerge when church fellowship is viewed as optional, inconvenient, or even unhelpful. Convinced of the danger of this trend and convicted by my own failure in the matter, here are five reasons why I believe we should all make church a priority not only for the summertime but throughout the year.

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day!

We Have Found…

On By BrianIn Virtue of Joy

In Christ, we have found a great love that came down to suffer with us and die for us.

In Christ, we have found a great peace with God – a relationship we can enjoy during the darkest storms of life.

In Christ, we have found a great hope that pierces the monster of death and transcends the grave.

In Christ, we have found a great joy as we remember the great love, peace, and hope we have found.

Passion Points

On By BrianIn Holidays, PASSION Points

Here are some good posts for your Easter weekend reading:

Enter the Dragon Slayer – Jon Bloom (DG)
Weary years passed as the cursed earth and its depraved inhabitants languished in bondage to corruption. And then, in the fullness of the King’s time, the ancient, mysterious decrees began to unfold. In an unexpected place and an unexpected way, into the world stepped the Dragon Slayer.

10 Things You Should Know about the Cross – Patrick Schreiner (Crossway)
The Christian faith is distinctively Trinitarian and cross-shaped. Therefore, the cross must reveal the Trinity. God the Father sent the Son to save the world, the Son submitted to the Father’s will, and the Spirit applies the work of redemption to Jesus followers.

Salvation by Propitiation – Kevin DeYoung
The God who has always been for us in eternity sent his Son in time to be the wrath-absorbing sacrifice that we might enjoy peace with God for ages unending.

Hymn Stories – Christ The Lord Is Risen Today – Tim Challies
Here are all 11 stanzas published by the Wesleys. It is worth reading through each one thoughtfully, and perhaps especially the ones that we no longer sing. They are rich with biblical allusion and the wonderful implications of Easter.

Hope you have a great Resurrection Sunday!