Tag: Church

Passion Points

On By BrianIn PASSION Points

Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:

Maintaining Confidence in the Process – Tim Challies
The Christian life has a way of challenging us, of cutting against our haste. It challenges us that the ordinary state of affairs when it comes to spiritual growth is slower than we’d like it to be and slower than we thought it would be. It challenges us not to expect shortcuts, but to accept slow gains. It challenges us to have confidence in the process.

4 Reasons to Stop Grumbling – Cassie Watson
The Bible shows that grumbling has been a problem for humans for a very long time—and that it’s not acceptable for Christians. Here are four biblical reasons why we should stick a lid on our complaints.

5 Actions of Faithful Evangelists – William Boekestein (CC)
As a Christian you want other people to get saved. You know that God uses means in the salvation of others and you want God to use you but you might not know how. Here are five actions of faithful evangelists.

Your Church Needs You to Sing – Nick Aufenkamp (DG)
So, when the music starts this weekend, don’t underestimate what happens as you sing. You are engaging your heart, teaching those around you (and receiving teaching), and declaring God’s faithfulness. The simple act of lifting your voice in song may well be the most significant way you serve your church this Sunday.

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

Passion Points

On By BrianIn PASSION Points

Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:

Get to the Cross and Never Leave – David Mathis (DG)
For Christians, true worship and “real sanctification” not only flow from the purchase of the cross, but also draw strength from conscious faith in the crucified Christ. We know our former selves to be crucified with him (Romans 6:6). “I have been crucified with Christ,” Paul says. “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). So also for us: “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Galatians 5:24). “Far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Galatians 6:14).

What Sins are You Killing Today? – Peter Adam (TGC)
It is not enough to stop doing what is wrong: you have to learn the habit of doing what is right. But you cannot start doing what is right, unless you kill off what is wrong!

Overcoming the Fear of Evangelism – Eric Davis (Cripplegate)
For those who like me have experienced butterflies in the stomach at times when you think about speaking the gospel to the lost, here are a few things that help me….

The Ministry of Presence – Tim Challies
I want to speak of the outsized value of the ministry of presence. The ministry of presence is the ministry of being there—of simply gathering with the church on Sunday. This may seem like a little thing, but it matters. It matters a lot. It’s genuinely a ministry. It’s genuinely a means of serving other Christians.

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day with the Lord and His church!

Passion Points

On By BrianIn PASSION Points

Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:

How To Distinguish True Zeal from False Zeal – Tim Challies
While zeal is a noble trait, it must be properly directed, for not all zeal is good. Here are some pointers on distinguishing true from false zeal….

4 Ways to Grow in Self-Control – David Qaoud (GR)
I’ve argued before that self-control is one of the biggest indicators of Christian character. Without it, you’ll eventually ruin your life and legacy. With it, you can thrive and be a blessing to others around you. You’re probably convinced of the need for self-control. But how do you get it?

3 Overlooked Ways to Do Pre-Evangelism – Randy Newman (TGC)
Here are three strategies for pre-evangelism that might help your friends move from “Are you crazy? Christianity is ridiculous, narrow-minded, homophobic, and stupid!” to “Well . . . maybe I need to rethink this” to “OK, I’ve not been fair in the ways I’ve pigeonholed religious people” to “All right, I’ll take a look at that book about God you gave me.”

He Must Increase; Our Churches Must Decrease – Jared Wilson (FTC)
There is one thing that the churches experiencing historic revival have in common: they seemed overrun with the sense of the glory of God. They preached the gospel and the response was, as some describe, that “glory came down.”

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

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!

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!

Passion Points

On By BrianIn PASSION Points

Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:

Why We Grow So Slowly – Ray Ortlund
In his Thoughts on Religious Experience, Archibald Alexander asked why we grow so slowly as Christians….

Let’s Just Be Honest and Admit We Hate One Another – Mike Leake
…hatred does four things. First, it keeps alive ill feelings towards others. It keeps stoking the flames. Secondly, it continually finds faults at the infirmities of others. Thirdly, it turns the least little slip into a big deal. And lastly, it has deep bitterness toward the most trifling or even imaginary thing—it wants to be mad.

Six Steps Out of Disappointment – David Murray (DG)
Our hopes are dashed. Our dreams are shattered. Our expectations are unfulfilled. External events and the decisions of others produce the agony of disappointment….how do we recover from it?

The Key To Making the Most Out of Congregational Singing – Tim Challies
When you know the people, you know their song. While you sing with them, you sing for them. You sing not as fifty or a hundred individuals, but as a single community. You sing to minister and you sing to be ministered to.

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day!