Tag: sin

Passion Points

On By BrianIn PASSION Points

Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:

The Cumulative Effect of Our Little Choices – Randy Alcorn (EPM)
Following Christ isn’t magic. It requires repeated actions on our part, which develop into habits and life disciplines. Our spirituality hinges on the development of these little habits, such as Bible reading and memorization and prayer. In putting one foot in front of the other day after day, we become the kind of person who grows in Christlikeness.

Your Sin Begins with a Felt Need – David Bowden (DG)
The more we put our faith in the truth of who God is for us in Christ, the more he fills in the places within us that are lacking. As he does this, the Holy Spirit creates new desires within our hearts (Romans 8:1–11). These new desires cut temptation’s legs out from under it and lead us away from sin and toward holiness.

Who Was Saint Patrick and Should Christians Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? – Stephen Nichols (Ligonier)
Perhaps we remember him best by reflecting on the “St. Patrick’s Breastplate,” which has traditionally been attributed to him. The word breastplate is a translation of the Latin word lorica, a prayer, especially for protection. These prayers would be written out and at times placed on shields of soldiers and knights as they went out to battle. St. Patrick’s Lorica points beyond himself and his adventurous life. It points to Christ, the one he proclaimed to the people who had taken him captive….

Instructive Worship – Andrew Roycroft
The beauty of true worship is that we address ourselves to God, but we also address one another with who God is and what he has said. We worship in our spirits, by the power of the Holy Spirit, but also with deep intellectual investment, with an eye fixed on the glory of the gospel as well as a heart tuned to its sentiments. Such worship is deeply didactic, it retrains the flagging disciple, it prohibits empty sentiment, it draws our attention and our affection towards the God in whose presence and power we are meeting.

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day!

Passion Points

On By BrianIn PASSION Points1 Comment

Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:

End of Year Check-Up Questions For Christians – David Qaoud (GR)
In no particular order, here are some questions to help gauge your spiritual health:

Every Sin / Every Temptation Not Taken – Jamsco
Every time you sin, it is an act of …
Every time you’re tempted to sin and resist it, it is an act of …

You Can Memorize Scripture This Year – Andy Naselli (DG)
With the New Year here, I want to encourage you: you can memorize Scripture this year. It does not take superhuman skill or fanatic devotion to write God’s word on your mind and heart. It requires some passion, planning, and persistence.

What’s Encouraging You at Your Church? – Tim Challies
A couple of days ago I was eager for some encouragement, so put the question out to Twitter: What’s something encouraging you’ve seen in your church over the past few months? The answers were a blessing to me! And, just so you can be encouraged as well, I thought I’d share some of them with you. Here’s how the Lord is at work in churches around the world…

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

Passion Points

On By BrianIn PASSION Points

Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:

How to Love People You Don’t Like – Greg Morse (DG)
He saw beyond the unlikeable to make them his beloved.

Sin Is Immaturity – Tim Challies
With every year that comes and goes, the more disturbing it becomes to see the childishness that remains in me.

The Key to Happiness Is More Stuff . . . Right? – Erik Raymond (Crossway)
Contentment actually is inward rather than outward, and it’s a work of God’s grace rather than a work of our flesh.

4 Truths About Christian Giving – J. I Packer (Crossway)
When we set ourselves to think about Christian money management, in whatever connection, from buying groceries to supporting missionaries to investing in industry to financing a holiday, the first thing we have to get clear on is that the money that is ours to manage is not ours, but God’s. Yes, we have been given it to use, but it remains his. We have it as a loan, and in due course we must give account to him of what we have done with it.

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day!

Passion Points

On By BrianIn PASSION Points

Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:

The Unexpected God: How He Meets Us in Disappointment – Brian Tabb (DG)
Unmet expectations. They are the constant thieves of our happiness and contentment. One of the greatest evidences of human falleness and finitude is how quickly we expect the wrong things, or the right things at the wrong time.  But the very heart and center of the Christian faith should remind us daily that our expectations do not typically map onto the grandeur and goodness and wisdom of God. The cross reminds us that God sent us the Messiah we really needed, not the one anyone expected.

Slay Sin by Savoring Christ – Erik Raymond
Too often professing Christians can be lulled to sleep with a false sense of security. Unwittingly they starve themselves of Christ and make provision for the flesh. This is a spiritual suicide mission! Instead of caring for and nurturing the flesh and its desires we are to starve and kill it.

Turn My Eyes from Worthless Things: Curbing Our Infinite Appetite for Distraction – Tony Reinke (DG)
Our endless desire for “the totally irrelevant” has finally been matched by the endless offerings of irrelevance in our smartphones. We love to be fed worthless things.  This onslaught of produced media is a major problem for us all because we can focus our minds only on a limited number of stimuli that come at us. So, how do we discern and navigate the digital age with wise discretion?

10 Prayers to Pray Before Church – Colin Smith
Going to church is not like a trip to the grocery store, visiting a friend, or a Christian task to complete. It is a declaration that worshiping the risen Christ is more important to you than sleeping in, eating brunch, playing sports, or working around the house….  As such, we should not enter church like any other place, but should prepare our hearts in prayer. Let these 10 prayers set your mind on God’s purposes for church and prepare your heart to worship the King.

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

Passion Points

On By BrianIn PASSION Points

Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:

Spurgeon’s 15 Tips for a Deep and Effective Prayer Life – Kevin Halloran
Spurgeon knew the power of prayer and his need for prayer. When asked the secret of his influential preaching ministry, Charles Spurgeon frequently responded, “My people pray for me.”

4 Grave Dangers in Every Sin – Tim Challies
You can’t sin without consequence. That’s not the way God has structured his world. It’s not the way God has structured his people.

Begin to Hope Again – Scott Hubbard (DG)
We may still be a sorrowful people — burdened, broken, and beaten up — but we will not be a cynical people. We are a people of hope.

The Congregation and the Pulpit – Phil Newton
The congregation is not simply a static audience. They participate in what takes place in the pulpit. Maturing congregations help their pastors to faithfully deliver this means of grace to the church in preaching God’s Word.

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