Restoration Experts and Sharpshooters
April 16, 2009
By Tony Reinke
The famous American flag Francis Scott Key watched flap in the sky as he wrote the national anthem (“O say, does that Star-spangled Banner yet wave”) is housed in the Smithsonian Museum of American History in D.C. It’s the first square flag I’ve seen, measuring about 30 foot by 34 foot in size, shortened horizontally by over 10 feet due to people cutting it into squares of handkerchief-sized keepsakes. And if that wasn’t bad enough, someone knifed at the middle to cut out one star, a brazen act that has left a sloppy haphazard hole right in the middle of the flag.
What was not sliced apart by its fans looks to be in good shape for an old flag that lived through a war. Which is to say it’s now tattered to threads, and has deteriorated badly, resembling a favorite t-shirt I wore in college on a regular basis until it took on semi-transparent qualities. It was a shirt I enjoyed wearing as a bachelor and probably would still be wearing had that shirt not experienced a post-marriage disappearance …
Read the rest …
Find out how to win a FREE COPY of Robert Jeffress’ Clutter-Free Christianity on Monday
April 10, 2009
“This book will ignite a passion to live wholly and holy for God as an overflow of our heart’s love for Him.”
- Al Mohler
From the first chapter of Clutter-Free Christianity: What God Really Desires for You:
“Imagine your employer announces that in two weeks you’ll be moving to Vienna, Austria … forever. How would you react? Although you’ve seen pictures of this beautiful city, you know very little about it. Because of your limited knowledge, you’d probably try to find out everything you can about Vienna before you left. What language is spoken? What’s the temperature like? What clothes are most appropriate?
You’d want to obtain or update your passport, secure any other necessary travel documents, and purchase your airline tickets. You’d have to decide what items you want to move with you and which ones to leave behind. You’d arrange to sell your house here and purchase a new one over there. You’d want to exchange your dollars for the proper currency.
But it would be unimaginable to do nothing and simply adopt the “I’ll go with the flow” philosophy. Sure, you might be able to rationalize your lack of preparation with thoughts such as:
- “Maybe at the last moment, circumstances will change and I won’t have to go.”
- “I’ll wait until I get there to see what it’s really like.”
- “I doubt Vienna is any different from where I live now.”
Failing to prepare for your journey would be unwise and could result in some disastrous consequences. If you know you’re going to make a long trip, you certainly want to be ready for it.
Whether you realize it or not, you will one day take the journey of a lifetime to a foreign land you’ve never seen. Although your departure time is unknown to you, the hour is already fixed on God’s calendar. At a moment known only to Him, you’ll leave everything you know and everyone you know, and you’ll stand alone before God. He will decide your eternal destiny: heaven or hell. If you wait until that moment to prepare for the journey, you’ll have waited too long. The preparations you make in this life will determine how you spend the next one …”
Steve Camp: ‘12 Essentials of Christian Ministry for All Believers in Jesus Christ’
April 7, 2009
When I Am Weak: Why we must embrace our brokenness and never be good Christians
April 7, 2009
By Michael Spencer
The voice on the other end of the phone told a story that has become so familiar to me, I could have almost finished it from the third sentence. A respected and admired Christian leader, carrying the secret burden of depression, had finally broken under the crushing load of holding it all together. As prayer networks in our area begin to make calls and send e-mails, the same questions are asked again and again. “How could this happen? How could someone who spoke so confidently of God, someone whose life gave such evidence of Jesus’ presence, come to the point of a complete breakdown? How can someone who has the answers for everyone one moment, have no answers for themselves the next?”
Indeed. Why are we, after all that confident talk of “new life,” “new creation,” “the power of God,” “healing,” “wisdom,” “miracles,” “the power of prayer,” …why are we so weak? Why do so many “good Christian people,” turn out to be just like everyone else? Divorced. Depressed. Broken. Messed up. Full of pain and secrets. Addicted, needy and phony. I thought we were different.
Read the rest …
‘Spirituality and Sexuality in the Bible’
April 7, 2009
‘Found my Boss’s Porn’
April 6, 2009
Boundless’s John Thomas counsels a young female on what to do in an awkward situation
Mark Driscoll talks about Mary
April 6, 2009
‘The 10 Dumbest Things Christians Do’
April 3, 2009
Eric Hartman discusses Mark Atteberry’s book at his blog, Semper Reformanda
‘One of the best treatments of this subject to find its way onto Christian bookshelves’
April 3, 2009
Trevin Wax reviews Scot McKnight’s Fasting: The Ancient Practices
Amazon: Fasting: The Ancient Practices
A good devotional for readers 8-12
April 1, 2009
Frank Turk likes What Does the Bible Say about That?
Amazon: What Does the Bible Say about That?
‘Drop-Dead Easy Guide on How to Journal’
March 31, 2009
New book discusses the two ‘bookends’ of the Christian life
March 31, 2009
Tim Challies reviews The Bookends of the Christian Life, by Jerry Bridges and Bob Bevington
Amazon: The Bookends of the Christian Life
Here’s the thing about Church
March 31, 2009
By Kim @ The Upward Call
When I go to church on Sunday morning, I want to know that I am in church.
Life is very ordinary. God is in the ordinary. I see Him in the regular, routine, mundane things of life. He is there; truly. However, on Sunday morning, when I gather with the Body of Christ, I want to know that God transcends the ordinary; that He is magnificent, holy, and supreme over the universe. Ordinary I can get at home. When I am sitting in church on Sunday morning, I want to see God in more than just the ordinary. I want to see Him high and lifted up and above all.
I don’t want to see a skit. I can get entertainment at home. I don’t need to have a plethora of pithy one-liners. Hey, I can go home and put Scotch tape on the bottom of my cat’s feet and be supremely entertained.
Read the rest
Facebook Faceoff
March 29, 2009
By Tim Sweetman
I couldn’t help but wonder what he was thinking as he pulled out his iPhone and took advantage of a new Facebook application — right in the middle of the sermon.
It was then that I realized the narcissistic machine that is Facebook.
Shifting uncomfortably in my chair, I found myself desiring to do the same. I shuddered. Have I really come to this place where I’m more concerned about what’s taking place on Facebook than what’s going on in this church service? More concerned about a self-serving social networking site than this Bible on my lap?
Later on that evening, I thought more about my internal battle between Facebook and my Bible. I understand that one of my desires as a Christian should be to know God more deeply; the reality is that I spend very little time actually getting to know Him. Too often, my hours are spent pursuing other human beings through convenient electronic means like Facebook. My life can quickly become all about striving to know my buddies better than my Lord.
Read the rest
What You Watch
March 28, 2009
By Bob Waliszewski, Boundless
I was hanging out with some Christian friends a while back, and as so often happens, the conversation turned to movies. Because I review movies for Plugged In Online, my friends know that I have strong opinions about a lot of the media we see in our culture today.
When the topic turned to an objectionable R-rated movie, a person close to me told me to plug my ears so that he could offer his positive perspective on the film. Because they were concerned about what I thought, I reassured — and challenged — them by noting that, “It doesn’t matter what I think, it matters what the Lord thinks.”
Fortunately, this person took this comment in the spirit in which I intended it — not cutting or condemning, but thought-provoking. He would later tell me that my words helped him make significant changes to his viewing habits.
That’s the purpose of this article. My message is simple: Our thoughts about the media should be determined by God’s thoughts, not the other way around …
Read the rest
