Links & Quotes

link quote

Some good reading from today…

A good laugh— Al and Lois go to a counselor after fifteen years of marriage. The counselor asks them what the problem is. Lois goes into a tirade, listing every problem they’ve ever had in their years of marriage. She goes on and on and on. Finally, the counselor gets up, embraces the surprised Lois, and kisses her passionately. Lois shuts up and sits quietly in a daze. The counselor turns to Al and says, “That is what your wife needs at least three times a week. Can you do that?” Al thinks for a moment and replies, “Well, I can get her here Mondays and Wednesdays, but Fridays I play golf.”

“It becomes every man who purposes to give himself to the care of others, seriously to consider the four following things: First, that he must one day give an account to the Supreme Judge of all the lives entrusted to his care. Secondly, that all his skill, and knowledge, and energy as they have been given him by God, so they should be exercised for his glory, and the good of mankind, and not for mere gain or ambition. Thirdly, and not more beautifully than truly, let him reflect that he has undertaken the care of no mean creature, for, in order that he may estimate the value, the greatness of the human race, the only begotten Son of God became himself a man, and thus ennobled it with his divine dignity, and far more than this, died to redeem it. And fourthly, that the doctor being himself a mortal man, should be diligent and tender in relieving his suffering patients, inasmuch as he himself must one day be a like sufferer.” —Dr. Thomas Sydenham, known as the father of English medicine

“It is a poor thing to strike our colors to God when the ship is going down under us; a poor thing to come to Him as a last resort, to offer up ‘our own’ when it is no longer worth keeping. If God were proud He would hardly have us on such terms: but He is not proud, He stoops to conquer, He will have us even though we have shown that we prefer everything else to Him.” —C.S. Lewis

“Prayer is never an acceptable substitute for obedience. The sovereign Lord accepts no offering from His creatures that is not accompanied by obedience. To pray for revival while ignoring or actually flouting the plain precept laid down in the Scriptures is to waste a lot of words and get nothing for our trouble.” —A.W. Tozer

These articles aren’t just for coaches, but for anyone who works with youth: Jameis Winston & The Fine Art Of Enabling from Mark Atteberry, and The Secret To Hard Conversations With Today’s Athletes by Tim Elmore.

A great question: Where Do Others Fit In Your Schedule?

Not A Glory-Stealer

Not A Glory-StealerNot to us, Lord, not to us but to Your name be the glory, because of Your love and faithfulness. (Psalm 115:1)

  • You are Love; I struggle with selfishness.
  • You are Faithful; I can be fickle.
  • You are Just; I am short-sighted.
  • You are Mercy; I can be petty.
  • You are Grace; I keep score.
  • You are Forgiveness; I remember hurts.
  • You are Perfection; I am flawed.
  • You are the Potter; I am a pot.
  • You are God; I am man.

Not to me—not ever to me—be any glory, but all to You. I extol You both now and forever more. Despite my flaws, may no one ever be able to say of me that I tried to steal Your glory.

The Furious Longing Of God (book review)

Furious Longing Of GodBrennan Manning at times seems to tap into dimensions of our relationship with God that I had never considered before, and his book The Furious Longing Of God is a great example of this.

It is almost foreign in a Christian’s vocabulary, or even understanding of Scripture, to think of God furiously longing for a relationship with the people He has created. But God does long for this, and Manning pulls out those biblical passages and weaves them together with his own life story to create a hunger in us for more of God.

Each chapter builds on the previous chapter, creating in me a longing to experience God’s longing. This book is not difficult to read, but it is confronting. I doubt you can read Manning’s words are remain unmoved by God’s passionate, relentless, furious longing for you.

If you too long for a deeper relationship with your Creator, this is a great book to help you on that journey.

Links & Quotes

link quote

Some good reading & watching from today…

[VIDEO] John Maxwell on the importance of follow-through.

Tim Dilena’s post—Pay For The Salsa & Chips—is a great reminder of the power of honesty.

Quite intriguing: Are We Evolving Stupidity?

Another reason to stand-up and speak out for the true definition of marriage—Incest: Another Disordered Image Of Worship.

Soul love is the soul of all love. To pet and pamper and indulge your child, as if this world was all he had to look forward to, and this life the only season for happiness—to do this is not true love, but cruelty. It is treating him like some beast of the earth, which has but only one world to look to, and nothing after death. It is hiding from him that grand truth, which he ought to be made to learn from his very infancy,—that the chief end of his life is the salvation of his soul.” Read more from J.C. Ryle in True Love For The Child’s Soul.

Charles Spurgeon: No One Can Believe For Me.

“Pain is terrible, but surely you need not have fear as well? Can you not see death as the friend and deliverer? It means stripping off that body which is tormenting you: like taking off a hair-shirt or getting out of a dungeon. What is there to be afraid of? You have long attempted (and none of us does more) a Christian life. Your sins are confessed and absolved. Has this world been so kind to you that you should leave it with regret? There are better things ahead than any we leave behind. Remember, though we struggle against things because we are afraid of them, it is often the other way round—we get afraid because we struggle. Are you struggling, resisting? Don’t you think Our Lord says to you ‘Peace, child, peace. Relax. Let go. Underneath are the everlasting arms. Let go, I will catch you. Do you trust Me so little?’” —C.S. Lewis

[VIDEO] Sesame Street parodies Star Wars to teach us about self-control.

Loving Obedience

Love and obeySuppose you had to do a secret project on a remote island. In fact, the island is so remote that it doesn’t even have a name or show up on a map. I am your only point of contact, and the only one with the latitude and longitude coordinates to come get you. You have a satellite phone to use. If I truly cared about you, I would give you the precise sequence of digits to reach me. If I didn’t care about you, I’d let you call any number you wanted to call: perhaps you would eventually reach someone who could help you.

The most loving thing I could do for you is to make sure you knew the one number to call in order to get the help you needed. 

This is exactly how God starts the Ten CommandmentsAnd God spoke all these words: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me.”

How confusing and utterly unloving it would be if God said, “Call any number you want to see if you can find the help you need.” Instead, in His great love for us God says, “I am the only One you will ever need!”

Notice the wording here: “…I am the LORD your God…”

  • I AM—all that you need.
  • the—not one among many, but the One and Only.
  • LORD—God’s covenant name: Jehovah, His name of personal relationship.
  • your—this is a you-Me relationship, not a you-it relationship.
  • God—the All-Powerful, All-Loving One.

This First Commandment is the orientating commandment. When we see all of God’s commandments are rooted in His love (by the way, God uses the phrase the LORD your God five times in the Ten Commandments), everything else in our lives and attitudes is properly aligned.

Jesus demonstrated this for us. He said He loved His Father and therefore obeyed all of His commands (John 14:31). Christ’s obedience was motivated and aligned by love. The Apostle John said this loving obedience is to be the distinguishing characteristic for us too:

This is love for God: to keep His commands. And His commands are not burdensome. (1 John 5:3)

We honor God and obey the First Commandment best when we know He is the One Who loves us enough to say, “I am the only One you need. Don’t look to anyone or anything else, but just come to Me!”

If you have missed any of the messages in our series The Love In The Law, you can find them all by clicking here.

Links & Quotes

link quote

Some good reading & watching from this weekend…

“Godly men do expel the aerial powers, ejecting them from their possession by exorcisms, not by pacification: and they break their temptations by prayer not unto them but unto God against them. For the devils neither conquer nor chain any man but by the fellowship of sin. And so His name that took on Him humanity and lived without sin, confounds them utterly.” —Augustine

[VIDEO] John Maxwell talks to us about how to handle pressure.

“What we need is a zealous hunger for God, an avid thirst after righteousness, a pain-filled longing to be Christlike and holy. We need a zeal that is loving, self-effacing and lowly.” —A.W. Tozer

Yummy: 10 foods to lower bad cholesterol.

[VIDEO] Another great tribute to Derek Jeter.

Grateful that the Kurds are standing up to ISIS and defending Christian.

More evidence that so-called “climate change” is more hype than substance, as an actor (not a scientist) is appointed by the United Nations as their representative.

“I saw regenerate souls among the Baptists, among the Presbyterians, among the Independents, and among the church folks—all children of God, and yet all born again in a different way.” —George Whitefield, during his 1740 trip to America

Poetry Saturday—Wanted

Josiah G. HollandGod give us men! A time like this demands
    Strong minds, great hearts, true faith, and ready hands;
    Men whom the lust of office does not kill;
      Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy;
    Men who possess opinions and a will;
      Men who have honor—men who will not lie.
    Men who can stand before a demagogue
      And damn his treacherous flatteries without winking;
    Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog
      In public duty and in private thinking;
    For while the rabble, with their thumb-worn creeds,
    Their large professions and their little deeds,
    Mingle in selfish strife, lo! Freedom weeps,
    Wrong rules the land, and waiting Justice sleeps. —Josiah Gilbert Holland

 

Links & Quotes

link quote

Some good reading from today…

“If evangelical Christianity is to stay alive it must have men again—the right kind of men. It must repudiate the weaklings who dare not speak out, and it must seek in prayer and much humility the coming again of men of the stuff of which prophets and martyrs are made.” —A.W. Tozer

“Heaven will solve our problems, but not, I think, by showing us subtle reconciliations between all our apparently contradictory notions. The notions will all be knocked from under our feet. We shall see that there never was any problem.” —C.S. Lewis

I believe the biggest reason why families are being redefined today is not because of liberal vs. conservative ideology. It’s because we had to embrace a new ‘community’ when the nuclear family exploded. Traditional families have been broken, yet people still want to be in a ‘family,’ even if it’s temporary. Sadly, this family thing often fails. Whether in a home, a team, a dorm, a company, a gym or a church, we tend to walk away rather than work at difficult relationships. We’re like porcupines—we tend to hurt each other when we get close.” Read more of the outstanding post from Tim Elmore: How Eating Alone Costs More Than You Think.

A great post to cut through the mis-information: Myths About Roe v. Wade.

According to some research, over half of women who have abortions do so under pressure, while those who resist can face violence and death. …The Center for Disease Control lists homicide as a leading cause of death among pregnant women.” Here are more facts contradicting the pro-abortion crowd’s rhetoric.

Good stuff: 8 Things Every Healthy Marriage Has.

[INFOGRAPHIC] Ten Evidences For Creation.

[INFOGRAPHIC] Facts on illegal immigrants.

Thursdays With Oswald—New Healthy Habits

Oswald ChambersThis is a periodic series with things I’m reading and pondering from Oswald Chambers. You can read the original seed thought here, or type “Thursdays With Oswald” in the search box to read more entries.

New Healthy Habits

When the Spirit of God brings a Word of God to us, are we going to wake up and lay hold [Ephesians 5:14-18] of it, or remain in the condition St. Augustine was in—“a little more worldliness; a little less intensity”? … When God tells us to do a thing He empowers us to do it, only we must do the doing. … All we need is grit and gumption and reliance on the Holy Spirit. We must bring the same determined energy to the revelations in God’s Book as we bring to earthly professions. Most of us leave the sweat of brain outside when we come to deal with the Bible. …

When in your soul’s vision you see clearly what God wants, let me advise you to do something physical immediately. If you accompany a moral or spiritual decision with a physical effort you give the necessary initiative to form the new habit. …

How are we going to find out the will of God? “God will communicate it to us.” He will not. His will is there all the time, but we have to discover it by being renewed in our minds, by taking heed to His Word and obeying it. If we are not going to be “conformed to this world; but transformed,” we must use our brains. God does the spiritual, powerful part we cannot do; but we have to work it out, and as we do the obeying we prove… “what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” [Romans 12:1-2].

From The Moral Foundations Of Life

Everything we need to form new, healthy, God-pleasing habits has already been given to us in the Bible. Now we need to put our brains and our bodies to work—

God’s Word + Holy Spirit revelation + Concentration + Physical obedience = 

New God-honoring habits

Links & Quotes

link quote

Some good reading from today…

“The whole lesson of my life has been that no ‘methods of stimulation’ are of any lasting use. They are indeed like drugs—a stronger dose is needed each time and soon no possible dose is effective. We must not bother about thrills at all. Do the present duty—bear the present pain—enjoy the present pleasure—and leave emotions and ‘experiences’ to look after themselves.” —C.S. Lewis

“Hear not those that deny that the invisible God works visible miracles…. Wherefore God that made heaven and earth (both miracles) scorns not as yet to work miracles in heaven and earth, to draw men’s souls that yet desire visibilities, unto the worship of His invisible essence. But where and when He will do this, His unchangeable will only can declare; at whose disposing all time has been, and all to come is. He moves all things in time, but time moves not Him, nor knows future effects otherwise than as present.” —Augustine