Posts Tagged ‘the goods’

The Goods

Friday, February 15th, 2013

The Singing God: “The one thing that gives us hope, the one thing that conquers despair and brings strength for the struggle is the assurance that no matter how bad the problem may be, God loves us. Pain becomes bearable and tomorrow no longer terrifies when your soul is touched with the reality of God’s delight in you.”

Common Misconceptions About the Crusades: I have been enjoying this series on the truth about the crusades. I have found it helpful in learning what actually happened in the crusades. I am sure it will help equip me to speak intelligently on the matter with many people in the future. There are four installments: one, two, three & still awaiting the fourth.

I Will Not Let You Go: Don’t miss this. “I got into a fistfight last week. Well, I suppose you could call it a fistfight. I got hit about 10-12 times without landing a single punch myself. It’s been a while since I have been in a fight. As a police officer, I probably get into more fights than the average middle-aged man. But at 46, my reflexes are not what they used to be—so I got a little beat up.”

Gospel-Centeredness Requires a High View of the Law: “If your desire is to be a part of a church that is saturated with gospel-loving, Jesus-treasuring, cross-exulting Christians, then it is incumbent that there be a high view of the law. A low view of the law leads to gospel substitutes. A high view of the law leads to gospel enjoyment and celebration. Don’t miss the relationship of law and gospel!”

Evangelism as a Mom: “As parents of school-aged children, I’ve come to realize we inadvertently share our lives with fellow mums whilst dropping the children off, at the school gate, over coffee, and so on. Let’s not miss this opportunity to get alongside them, build relationships, and tell them the great news of Jesus.”

How Do We Cherish Virginity Without Moralistic Fearmongering? “The promise of purity, “Is kept most tenaciously by teenagers who have moved beyond moralistic therapeutic deism and who adore the King of Kings with awe and intimacy. They know their Lord and Savior said, ‘If you love me, you will keep my commandments.’ Their walk in purity is a way to express deep love for him and to respond to his supremacy.”

Top 10 Reasons Why Youth Leave the Church: Justin Taylor summarizes some great points from another blogger. “Our kids are smart. They picked up on the message we unwittingly taught. If church is simply a place to learn life-application principals to achieve a better life in community . . . you don’t need a crucified Jesus for that. Why would they get up early on a Sunday and watch a cheap knockoff of the entertainment venue they went to the night before?”

How Can God Command Genocide? One of Atheists’ most common objections against Christianity is the moral legitimacy when God commands Israel to slaughter the Canaanites in order to occupy the Promised Land. Justin Taylor offers seven helpful thoughts in order to think it through biblically.

What Happens to Our Faith When Adam is Thought to be Unhistorical? A short, helpful post about the importance of believing in the historical Adam.

Head Over Heels: “The 2013 Academy Award nominated Animated Short Film directed by Timothy Reckart and produced by Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly. A husband and wife have grown apart over the years. He lives on the floor, she lives on the ceiling, and their marriage hangs in the balance.”

“The saints are God’s jewels, highly esteemed by and dear to him; they are a royal diadem in his hand.” Matthew Henry

The Goods

Friday, January 4th, 2013

Truth and Life Conference! If you’re not doing anything on January 16-18, consider going to this conference in Santa Clarita! “Who has it? Is it true? How does it bear on my life? The world has many answers. However, the only true source of authority is the Word of God. This is the focus of the 2013 Truth & Life Conference at The Master’s College. We invite you to join us…to hear from our president, Dr. John MacArthur and noted speakers Dr. Mark Dever and Dr. Sinclair Ferguson, as we explore the authority and sufficiency of the inerrant Word of God.”

A 10 Point Inventory: “The following ten point inventory is meant for personal evaluation not for judging others. It could be used as a guide to help others but I suggest caution because lists and tests easily become legalistic tools that promote sinful pride when aimed at others. With this said, it’s certainly wise to examine and to guard our own hearts. I think you’ll find this 10 point inventory helpful…”

10 Things to Pray for Your Wife: “It is a beautiful thing — a miracle — when we become as invested in the sanctification of others as we are in our own. And, of course, the best place to start is with our spouses.”

Things People Should Never Say They Never Heard at Your Church: “As a pastor, there are certain things I hope the people at my church will never say they never heard. These are not necessarily the most important doctrines of the faith (though some are). Rather, these are the things we easily assume our people know, but often still miss.”

Parenting Reminders: “There are days that I cannot imagine anything more rewarding and other days that I want to get into the fetal position and remain there for a week. Here are a few reminders for me and all the other Christian parents out there…”

A Good Youth Group: I appreciated this short article on certain components that make a student ministry successful in making disciples of Christ. Even if you’re not a part of the youth ministry at your church, there are good thoughts in here for discipleship of any kind.

How Do I Kill Sin? “My friend — a younger minister — sat down with me at the end of a conference in his church and said: ‘Before we retire tonight, just take me through the steps that are involved in helping someone mortify sin.’”

10 Steps to Reading 50 Books in 2013: Even if you don’t end up reading 50 books in 2013, this is a valuable list for tips about reading in general.

How could I not post this?

“God is not against you having things, He just doesn’t want things having you.” Voddie Baucham

The Goods

Friday, December 21st, 2012

Choose to Be Attracted to Your Wife: “If you find a woman who loves Jesus, whose company you enjoy, and who will be a faithful companion through the joys and trials of life… you should probably marry her. If she’ll have you.”

A Pregnant Mother Writes a Letter to Her Un-Born Baby Recording Each Week of Her Pregnancy: A sweet letter, from the sweet wife of one of my good/old friends, Jake Hamilton. “When you were 4 weeks (in utero), I found out I was having you and your Daddy looked amazed…When you were 8 weeks, I heard your heart beat for the first time and I thought I’d die of feeling so proud of you.”

The Joy and Gravity of Adoption: Very moving and beautiful short about a family’s desire to adopt and love. “Being adopted means that your family looked throughout the world and said, “I choose you.”

Three Strategies Satan Has to War on Christmas – “First, encourage them to take their faith for granted, by relying on what others believe. Distract them from explicit concern to a foggy memory of slogans and phrases they learned in their nurseries…”

Bible Reading Plans for 2013: Get on it! If you don’t plan, you probably won’t do it!

Sharing the Gospel With “Gay” People: Worth a read. Some helpful thoughts. “You risk being treated like a racist bigot when you tell a homosexual that they have offended God and should repent.”

The Anti-Santy-Ranty: A great video about…

“None are so deaf as those who choose not to hear.” Matthew Henry

The Goods

Friday, December 14th, 2012

Should a Christian Photographer Work at a Same-Sex Wedding? “I am an evangelical Christian, and I work as a wedding photographer. By conscience, I hold to an orthodox view of human sexuality, with all that entails. I’ve been asked to photograph a same-sex wedding service (legal in my state), and I’ve said no. I wonder if I did the right thing.”

Why is Everyone So Tired? A great video of three pastors talking about the common trait of “tiredness” seen in many Christians. “Why aren’t we energized? The New Testament apostles must have been tired. But look at their joy in spending their lives for Christ!”

Who Was St. Nicholas? A very interesting article about the real “Santa Claus” with a great ending: “So this Christmas, give gifts if you like. We will in our family. Receive them all with thanksgiving. But do not forget what we need most – salvation through substitution. This is one gift the real St. Nicholas would not have overlooked.”

10 Signs You Glorify Self. Paul Tripp (over two posts) offer simple signs of whether or not you may have a problem in glorifying yourself. The other 5 are here.

A Few Things to Consider Before Supporting Gay Marriage: “By recognizing gay unions as marriage, just like the husband-wife relationship we’ve always called marriage, the state is engaging in (or at least codifying) a massive re-engineering of our social life.”

Mark Driscoll Interviews John Piper: A great interview with lots of good things to think through.

Very Cool Looking Confessions for Sale: Very cool looking versions of The Westminster Confession and The Baptist Confession of Faith are on sale at Banner of Truth. Great gift ideas for the theologian you love.

“That man should be made in God’s image is a wonder, but that God should be made in man’s image is a greater wonder. That the Ancient of Days would be born. That He who thunders in the heavens should cry in the cradle?” Thomas Watson

The Goods

Friday, December 7th, 2012

Raising Kids the World Will Hate. “I realized that if God answers my prayer for my son to be a follower of Christ, people will hate him. People will absolutely, unquestionably be repulsed by my son.”

5 Gospel Truths from Jesus’ Genealogy. Have you had trouble seeing the point in reading the genealogies in the Matthew and Luke? Read this and wonder no more.

Trust Your Instruments Over Your Instinct. Tim Challies brings a fantastic illustration about the Christian life from the near crash of a passenger airplane. “Those pilots refused to trust their instruments, relying instead on their flawed assessment of the situation. Even though they thought they saw the situation clearly, they were in fact flying blind because they refused to heed the information conveyed to them by their instruments…”

7 Ways to Help Deal with Stress. Some very practical, specific and helpful tips on helping control the inevitable stress of life.

Protect Your Child’s Rest. This was a very special post for me in that I often see parents let their children have lives filled with activity with no guarded time of rest and reflection. If you are a parent, or know parents, read this article and help combat the harmful practice of making our kids schedules more packed than they should be.

Manufacturing “God’s Presence.” Bob Kauflin brings some much needed counsel on the church’s desire to force feeling in corporate worship. “God’s power, like God’s presence, can’t be bought or sold. God doesn’t call us so much to be facilitators of his glory as faithful to the gospel. Our job isn’t to create an “environment of excitement” but an environment of response to the true God through the gospel in the power of the Spirit.”

A Good Theologian Talks About Jesus Why did Jesus have to come as a man and not a woman? Can Jesus understand me as a woman? Could Jesus have sinned? Did Jesus do miracles because He is God? Bruce Ware discusses the topic of his newest book. The Man Christ Jesus: Theological Reflections on the Humanity of Christ.

Matt Papa’s New(ish) Song. Make sure to not miss this music video/song. At least listen up to 1:45; absolutely astounding.

“Oh, that our hearts were as high as our hopes, and our hopes as high as (God’s) infallible promises!” Richard Baxter

The Goods

Friday, November 30th, 2012

At Last: Do not miss this post. “These are real photos of grooms seeing their brides for the first time on their wedding day…”

Forgive Us Our Debts: Great post talking about the national debt and our debt against the Lord. Good thing he has the resources to pay off all we need and much more. “Not only will he cancel all our debts, but he has also promised to adopt us into his family, making us his heirs. In fact, he’s currently planning a huge banquet celebration for all the new members of his family in the not too distant future. Got nothing to wear? No worries; he’s even providing the wardrobe.”

30 Things You Might Not Know About C.S. Lewis: Number 21 made me LOL, “A Grief Observed was originally published under the pseudonym N. W. Clerk. Lewis wrote this work after Joy died in 1960. Many who read the book sent Lewis copies hoping it would help him in his plight!”

The Sad Tale of 12 Lotto Winners: “winning the lottery can have its pitfalls. Distant relatives and fair-weather friends can come clamoring for their share; spouse can turn on spouse; kidnapping and murder can suddenly become very real threats. And sometimes, the greatest danger to the newly well-off can be the winners themselves.”

Violence Against Women: “Sir, if you abuse your wife or daughter or girlfriend, physically or verbally, you are more than a bully. You are the enemy of God…you are not a good man. You are an evil man and unqualified to judge. You are under God’s judgment.”

Free E-Book from John Piper for the 2012 Advent: “The team here at Desiring God did a deep dive into our thirty-plus-year reservoir of sermons and articles, and selected brief devotional readings for each day of Advent. Our hope is that God would use these readings to deepen and sweeten your adoration of Jesus this Advent.”

A Godly Grandpa’s Last Letter: “”To God be the Glory.” Farewell, and God be with you till we meet again on Resurrection Morning, beseeching God that our family circle will be unbroken. May the God of peace provide you with every good thing you need in order to do His will, and may He, through Jesus Christ, do in you what pleases Him. And to Christ be all the glory forever and ever!”

Watch out, it’s cold out there:

“The worst thing God will do to his children is whip them to heaven.” Thomas Watson

The Goods

Thursday, October 25th, 2012

10 Questions Pro-Lifers Are Never Asked: Ten very good questions Pro-Life people need to think through. Number Four says, “If you do not believe that human life begins at conception, when do you believe it begins? At what stage of development should an unborn child have human rights?”

12 Things to do When You’re Criticized: “We will all be criticized at one time or another. Sometimes justly, sometimes unjustly. Sometimes others’ criticism of us is harsh and undeserved. Sometimes we may need it. How do we respond to criticism? I haven’t always done well and I’m still learning, but here are a few things I try to think of when others criticize me.”

Theology Brew: “Do you like talking about Jesus and gospel truths with other Christian? Are you wanting to grow in your relationship with other Christians? Do you want to grow in your understanding of the Bible and what it teaches? Then don’t miss Theology Brew!”

Can I Be A Christian & a Divorce Lawyer? “I have a church member, a devoted Christian, who is an attorney specializing in divorce cases. Our church believes that divorce is (in almost every case) sin. If so, isn’t he empowering sin? Should I counsel him to follow Christ by walking away from this job and to do something else? If he won’t, should we discipline him?”

Better Than Porn: “A life-with-porn versus a life-without-porn is a poor choice. If you set it up in these terms then you won’t produce lasting change. We need to set it up (as it truly is) as a choice between life-with-porn versus life-with-God. We need to show how God always offers more than porn.” Also, at the end of this article there is a free e-book.

What is a Disciple? “Disciples are not merely learners but fruit-bearing disciple-makers; they multiply themselves…Discipleship is as dynamic and costly as the gospel. Disciples can give up anything, go anywhere, and risk everything because the gospel has filled us with good things that can never be taken away.”

Tell The World:

Now I’mma tell the world, tell em
I’mma tell it everywhere I go
Tell the world, tell em
Yea I’mma billboard
Tell the world, tell em
Cast Him like a radio
Tell the world you are to know
I’m brand new

(Verse 1)
Uh, I know one thing’s true
I don’t even really deserve to know you
But I… I’m a witness that you did this
And I’m brand new so I… I’m ready to go
And I’mma tell the world what they need to know
A slave to myself but you let me go
I tried gettin high but it left me low
You did, what they could never do
You cleaned up my soul and gave me life, I’m so brand new
And that’s all that matters
I aint love you first, but you first loved me
In my heart I cursed ya, but you set me free
I gave you no reason to give me new seasons, to give me new life, new
Breathin
But you hung there bleedin
And you died for my lies, and my cheatin, my lust, and my greedin
What is a man, huh? that you’re mindful of em?
And what do I have to deserve this love?

(Chorus)
Tryna make the moments last
Holdin on to the past
But like a hero in a dream
Christ came and He rescused me!
Now I’mma tell the world, tell the world, tell em
I’mma tell it everywhere I go
Tell the world, tell em
Yea I’mma billboard
Tell the world, tell em
Cast Him like a radio
Tell the world you are to know
I’m brand new
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsfreak.com/l/lecrae/tell+the+world_21034627.html ]
(Verse 2)
I can’t offer you nothin, but your care and kindness keep comin
And your love is so unconditional, I get butterflies in my stomach
I got the old me in the rearview, gotta new me, gotta clear view
I was so dead, I couldn’t hear you
Too deep in sin to come near you
But you drew me in, and cleaned me up
And take me home and beamed me up
Before you do, just let me tell the truth
And let these folks know that I done seeing your love
And it’s everlastin, infinite
It goes on and on, you can’t measure it
Can’t quench your love, they can’t separate us from the love of God
It’s no estimate
My face look the same, my frame done rearranged
But I changed, I promise I aint the same
Your love is so deep, you suffered and took pain
And died on the cross to gimme a new name
Aint nothin like I seen before
I gotta beam to glow
Was low, down, and dirty but you cleaned me Lord
You looked after me, you keep rockin me
Imma tell the world and aint nobody stoppin me

(Chorus)
Tryna make the moments last
Holdin on to the past
But like a hero in a dream
Christ came and He rescused me!
Now I’mma tell the world, tell the world, tell em
I’mma tell it everywhere I go
Tell the world, tell em
Yea I’mma billboard
Tell the world, tell em
Cast Him like a radio
Tell the world you are to know
I’m brand new

(Verse 3; 2 Corinthians 5:17)
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,
He is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
Yea, I’m brand new

(Chorus)
Now I’mma tell the world, tell the world, tell em
I’mma tell it everywhere I go
Tell the world, tell em
Yea I’mma billboard
Tell the world, tell em
Cast Him like a radio
Tell the world you are to know
I’m brand new

The Goods

Friday, October 19th, 2012

The Goods is a collection of videos, articles, blog posts and other things I found throughout the week for your weekend reading. Here’s to hopes of edifying, amusing and maybe even an occasional LOL.

We Need to Talk About Mumford & Sons: I love Mumford & Sons music, but this piece brought up some good thoughts about music, real life and ambiguous depth. Again, I like Mumford. Don’t slay me.

Theology Brew: This is an unashamed advertisement for something we will be doing at Core next Thursday from 5:45-6:45p. Be There!

Why Do We Sing So Many Songs About the Cross? “Why so many songs about the blood of Jesus? Why so many songs about salvation? There are plenty of other topics we could sing about. Why so many songs about what Jesus did on Calvary?”

Billy Graham Website Removes Mormon-Cult-Reference: I thought this was relevant given our current teaching series on the Person of Christ at Corefellowship. After Billy Graham met with Mitt Romney, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association removed their references to Mormonism as a cult. “Our primary focus at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association has always been promoting the Gospel of Jesus Christ…We removed the information from the website because we do not wish to participate in a theological debate about something that has become politicized during this campaign.” A good question to ask is how important is this “theological debate” to the gospel of Jesus Christ?

The Inconsistent Logic of Abortion Rights Advocates: “Mr. Biden’s response relates to the idea that he is unwilling to impose his morality on someone else. This is egregiously inconsistent for anyone involved in government. The role of laws established by government is the imposition of morality on others. Laws that prohibit murder, theft, fraud, and slander impose someone’s morality on the rest of society. In fact all laws impose morality. For the argument of abortion rights advocates to be consistent, one has to accept moral anarchy. Everyone should be able to do what is right in his own eyes.”

Short Biography on Matthew Henry: Matthew Henry is one of my favorite pastors who ever lived. His commentary on the whole Bible has been a consistent blessing in my life. Here is a short article covering his life and ministry.

Catechisms: If you don’t know what catechisms are then you must read this by Tim Keller. “Our people desperately need richer, more comprehensive instruction. Returning to catechesis—now—is one important way to give it.”

Does Believing in Atheism Mean No One Goes to Hell? Stand to Reason offered a challenge to respond to this meme. This is one of the video responses from one of their own.

I think I enjoyed this video especially because I am a youth pastor. Cocky little dude gets what’s coming to him:

The Goods

Friday, October 12th, 2012

The Art of Neighboring: If you have neighbors, please make sure to give this a read. A very helpful review on what seems to be a very helpful book. “Christians have long been taught that we should do good things solely to have a spiritual conversation that can move people toward conversion; but Jesus never called us to use a bait-and-switch approach where we are friends only so we can share the gospel. “We are called to love our neighbors unconditionally, without expecting anything in return.”

How God Saved a Hardened Atheist: “This man was an atheist with a violent temper. When someone offered to read Scripture to him, this man loudly ordered him to leave. And when a pastor had visited, this man spit in his face.”

In the Trench of the Local Church: “I’ve found I’m at my best when I’m covered in mud in the trench of the local church. I’m fighting most fiercely when I’m not worried about my personal brand. I’m fighting well when I’m more concerned about the local pregnancy clinic than who retweets one of my pithy—but ultimately useless—140-character oddments.”

Are You a Loudmouth? “I think that people who truly know their Reformed doctrine don’t have tell others how much they know or who they know. They’ve been gripped by the grace of Christ and want to serve the church. The people who want everyone else to know what and who they know, on the other hand, have yet to mature. ”

Why Evangelism Should Be a Priority at Your Church: These are good thoughts for me. I hope to cultivate a passion for evangelism at Core and The Ride.

What Coffee Does to You: Be of good cheer because it is overwhelmingly positive.

3 Ways to Cherish Your Wife: Biblical and practical wisdom to love your with by, “caring for her soul, cultivating consistent communication, & creating romantic memories.” Given the importance of a husband’s call to love his wife as Christ loves the church, sermons and articles like these should never be neglected.

Unlikely Lines to Hear at the Vice-Presidential Debate: My favorite is, “I’m not going to promise that because, frankly, there are a lot of things I can’t control. But I’ll do my best.” Also, I enjoy, ““There is no reason a President needs to give his opinion on that or even have an opinion on that.”

Heavenly Identity:

Heavenly Identity from The Branch Corvallis on Vimeo.

“Jesus Christ saved us from alongside of us.” Donald Macleod

The Goods

Friday, May 25th, 2012

Why Are So Many Guys Addicted to Video Games and Porn? “The porn addict becomes a lecherous loser, with one-flesh union supplanted by masturbatory isolation. The video game addict becomes a pugilistic coward, with other-protecting courage supplanted by aggression with no chance of losing one’s life. In both cases, one seeks the sensation of being a real lover or a real fighter, but venting one’s reproductive or adrenal glands over pixilated images, not flesh and blood for which one is responsible.”

Why America Is Becoming More Pro-Life: “First, the fetus has been humanized. Modern science has helped us to understand with intricate detail the amazing phenomenon that occurs at the moment of fertilization. Second, abortion is increasingly hard to square with women’s empowerment when it is the single greatest contributor tipping the scale towards a world with fewer women.”

He Cares: This is a verse I often bring anxious and worried students to and this article explains the reasons why I do. “Some say that the two words “But God” in Ephesians 2 are the best two words in the Bible. I tend to agree, but two words in 1 Peter 5:7 come pretty close. He cares.”

Africa Needs a Study Bible: “AIDS orphans, female circumcision, slavery—these are just some of the most obvious examples of the African context that would never appear in an application targeted to readers in America. This study Bible will equip Africans to live out the gospel in their context, to be disciples of Jesus.” If you are interested in helping visit their site at www.africastudybible.com.

Mommy Wars: “Sure, we all have a role to play in upholding community standards and making sure our neighbors’ children have their needs met, but we should also be careful not to intrude on others’ vocations. Just as we wouldn’t rearrange colleagues’ offices or tinker with their computers, neither should we presume to know best how they should manage their families.”

9 Tips for Eating Like a Christian: This isn’t a lame article about eating healthy because your body is a temple, blah, blah, blah. “‘How does food relate to theology? What can it teach us about faith?’ For students in Bible professor Andy Draycott’s Theology 2 class last year, these were important questions. Food was the lens through which the class looked at central Christian doctrines.”

When Life Gives You Tanks, Make Playgrounds: “In the environs of the southwestern Siberian city of Omsk, you can find decommissioned Soviet tanks welded shut and dotting children’s playgrounds. Behold the most hardcore playground accoutrements this side of splinter-covered monkey bars.”

The Importance of Singing About the Gospel: A classic post by Bob Kauflin where he explains that, “The gospel is not merely one of many possible themes we can touch on as we come to worship God. It is the central and foundational theme. All our worship originates and is brought into focus at the cross of Jesus Christ.” A great read for all Christians, especially those interested in serving the church within her singing life.

Best line from this clip, “How does that look in HD?”

“If we will only think, we shall begin to thank.” Charles Spurgeon