gospel

If Only Life were "According to Ben"

November 23, 2009

Here’s the thing about perseverance: It takes a while. I want the non-existent concept of instant obedience. I say to God, “OK, I’ve checked the box marked ‘experience emotional strain and pain from a precariously low bank account and trust God to provide’ and now I’d like to move on to the box marked ‘experience [...]

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I’m anxious enough to sing.

November 4, 2009

I was driving today, listening to conservative talk radio (because it’s as funny as Jon Stewart during the Bush years) and all the flailing and panicking and minor-key interludes that accompany advertisements for reseeding packets and buying gold. Then, I turned off the radio, and looked over the tops of the brilliantly colored red and [...]

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Feed my Sheep.

October 28, 2009

John 21:15 “Do you love me more than these? These what? Oh, these 153 fish that I just caught? I sure do, Jesus. I’d gladly give up fishing—my very livelihood—if it meant being with you.” How quickly Peter answered. Jesus is asking me lately whether I love him more than financial security, or even providing [...]

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October 27, 2009

Sometimes readers of the Bible see the conditions that God lays down for his blessing and they conclude from these conditions that our action is first and decisive, then God responds to bless us. That is not right. John Piper’s Blog. Read the rest of the post. So good.

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The shock of being an insider.

October 26, 2009

This is a quote that rocked me to the core last week. It’s something Tim Keller references in his study Gospel Christianity 101 (which you should immediately purchase, read, and use as the curriculum at your small group) He quoted Richard Hays from his book The Moral Vision of The New Testament: God’s… invasion of [...]

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October 16, 2009

A person who worships God because God is man-centered is not God-centered. And the worship may not be worship. John Piper.

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The subtlety of Self.

October 12, 2009

It’s so easy to share even a message about Jesus and not share the message of Jesus. Take Matthew 4:1-11 as an example. It’s a fairly well known passage about Jesus being tempted in the wilderness by Satan. Every single time I have ever talked or meditated on this passage I have made the action [...]

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Sabbaths are a Sign.

September 30, 2009

I was reading in the book of Ezekiel (as per the YouVersion “daily reading” plan which has regrettably looked for me more like an every-other-daily plan at best) recently and was struck by Ezekiel 20:12. Did you catch that? (mouse over the verse to read it) God gave us the sabbath (a day of rest [...]

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Hope-Accosted Waiting.

September 29, 2009

Can I be honest? The past week has been a struggle. We are facing an elephant-sized amount of financial support to raise, and despite having been off campus working full-time on developing additional support, we have a net gain of around (negative) 100 bucks per month this month. It has felt insurmountable at times, and [...]

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Peace, Now! COEXIST! Make love, not war!

September 24, 2009

I’ve seen many of these types of bumper stickers and signs, lately. And I agree, we should work toward peace, now. But what these stickers and the sentiments behind them fail to take into account is that, essentially, all of the war-mongers out there are thinking the same thing. “There would be peace, if everybody [...]

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