John Piper is in the midst of an excellent series in his video teaching series called Look At The Book. This series is about Christ’s teaching on anxiety. It will be a 9-part series, so here is a good recap of the first few lessons.
[VIDEO] Did it only take Adam and Eve to see the entire earth?
“You can’t love Christ too much. You can’t think about Him too much or thank Him too much or depend upon Him too much. All our justification, all our righteousness, is in Christ. This is the gospel—the good news that our sins are laid on Christ and His righteousness is laid on us, and that this great exchange happens for us not by works but by faith alone.” —John Piper
“The beginning of true revival comes when a godly company of believers takes on the Lord’s burden for a church or a city trapped in sin. This godly company fasts and prays, pleading with God to begin rebuilding the walls and gates that will protect His people from every enemy.” Read more in David Wilkerson’s post The Beginning Of Revival.
Even in the midst of ISIS persecution in the Middle East, there is some really good news!
[VIDEO] How do scientists come up with the date for Adam and Eve?
“We know that God’s being is perfect, His essence infinite, His dominion absolute, His power unlimited, and His glory transcendent.” —Charles Spurgeon
“A great empire, like a great cake, is most easily diminished from its edges.” —Benjamin Franklin
“We will do most good for this world by keeping a steadfast freedom from its beguiling attractions. We will serve our city best by getting our values from the ‘city which is to come’ (Hebrews 13:14). We will do our city most good by calling as many of its citizens as we can to be citizens of the ‘Jerusalem above’ (Galatians 4:26). Let’s live so that the natives will want to meet our King.” —John Piper
Anyone who works with kids (parents, teachers, coaches) should check out Mark Merrill’s list of 9 things not to say to children.
Matt Chandler says, “sex can be about the Gospel, if we’re mindful enough to make it so.” Read more of his post The ‘Good News’ About Sex.
Eric Metaxas shares an alarming statistic: An astonishing 70,000 children are kidnapped by gangs every year in China! Check out the worldview that contributes to this.
“Prayer for your enemies (Matthew 5:44) is one of the deepest forms of love, because it means that you have to really want that something good happen to them. You might do nice things for your enemy without any genuine desire that things go well with them. But prayer for them is in the presence of God Who knows your heart, and prayer is interceding with God on their behalf.” —John Piper
“The only thing one can usually change in one’s situation is oneself. And yet one can’t change that either—only ask Our Lord to do so….” —C.S. Lewis
“God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.” —C.S. Lewis
“The world is not looking for more doctrinal proof of the reality of God! It is not looking for greater proof of the resurrection or better arguments about creation. The world is looking for Christians who can stand up to every crisis, fear, trouble and difficulty and remain calm and at rest in the midst of it all. The world needs to see God’s children trusting wholly in their Lord.” —David Wilkerson
“I would then that the quickening Spirit would come down upon me, and upon you, upon every one of us in abundance, to create men valiant for truth and mighty for the Lord.” —Charles Spurgeon
I know I have said this before, but I love the infographics and study tools from the folks at The Overview Bible Project. Here is a sample of their overview of Deuteronomy.
Jim Cymbala says, “The Scriptures are not so much the goal as they are an arrow that points us to the life-changing Christ.” Read more in his post The Limits Of Teaching.
Rosaria Butterfield wrote, “Unbelievers don’t ‘struggle’ with same-sex attraction. I didn’t….” Read more in her post The Dead End Of Sexual Sin.
“How can I maximize my enjoyment of God for all eternity while I am an exile on this earth? And the answer is always the same: by doing the labors of love.” —John Piper
“For if we take the imagery of Scripture seriously, if we believe that God will one day give us the Morning Star and cause us to put on the splendor of the sun, then we may surmise that both the ancient myths and the modern poetry, so false as history, may be very near the truth as prophecy. At present we are on the outside of the world, the wrong side of the door. We discern the freshness and purity of morning, but they do not make us fresh and pure. We cannot mingle with the splendors we see. But all the leaves of the New Testament are rustling with the rumor that it will not always be so. Some day, God willing, we shall get in.” ―C.S. Lewis
“Never reduce Christianity to a matter of demands and resolutions and willpower. It is a matter of what we love, what we delight in, what tastes good to us.” —John Piper
“The man who has a hope for the next world goes about his work strong, for the joy of the Lord is our strength. He goes against temptation mighty, for the hope of the next world repels the fiery darts of the adversary. He can labor without present reward, for he looks for a reward in the world to come. He can suffer rebuke, and can afford to die a slandered man, because he knows that God will avenge His own elect who cry day and night unto Him. Through the Spirit of God the hope of another world is the most potent force for the product of virtue; it is a fountain of joy; it is the very channel of usefulness.” —Charles Spurgeon
“Fast growth comes from overwhelming the smallest possible audience with a product or service that so delights that they insist that their friends and colleagues use it. And hypergrowth is a version of the same thing, except those friends and colleagues quickly become even bigger fans, and tell even more people. Often, we get sidetracked when we forget about ‘smallest possible.’ If you make the audience you’re initially serving too big, you will dilute the very thing you set out to make, avoid critical mass, and compromise the magic of what you’re building. You’ll make average stuff for average people instead of something powerful for the few. By ‘smallest possible’ I don’t mean, ‘too small.’ I mean the smallest number that eventually leads to the kernel of conversation that enables you to grow.” —Seth Godin
[VIDEO] An interesting discussion: Can postmodernists live a consistent life?…
“The Son of God suffered (really suffered!) to deliver me from sinning. I cannot believe He suffered to make me miserable. Therefore, what He died to purchase must be more wonderful than the pleasures of sin.” —John Piper
“They who are Christ’s are kings. Take care that you wear your crown, by reigning over your lusts.” ―Charles Spurgeon
“Human beings are story-making engines, and when we’re confronted with randomness, we make up an egocentric version of what happened, and it involves us. So when things randomly go well, we give ourselves a pat on the back, a reminder of why we deserved it. And when they don’t, we seek out the ghost in whatever machine did us wrong and come up with a reason. … All the time we spend inventing reasons is probably better spent responding to what occurs.” —Seth Godin
This is an astounding video clip from John Piper! Please soak up this powerful 2-minute snippet…
I love when he says, “Too many Christians are fighting graduate school sins with a grammar school knowledge of God.” You can find the link to watch Piper’s entire sermon by clicking here.
“‘Amen’ is an exclamation point of hope after a prayer for help.” —John Piper
“You ask ‘for what’ God wants you. Isn’t the primary answer that He wants you. We’re not told that the lost sheep was sought out for anything except itself.” —C.S. Lewis
Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, had some messed up values! Check out this video where she is interviewed by Mike Wallace of 60 Minutes. If you cannot watch the whole thing, fast forward to the 19:50 mark where she answers a question about sin. She says one of the greatest sins is to bring unfit children into the world(!). Disgusting.
“I freed a thousand slaves. I could have freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves.” ―Harriet Tubman
“We do our Lord an injustice when we suppose He wrought all His mighty acts in days of old, and showed Himself strong for those in the early time, but does not perform wonders or lay bare His arm for the saints that are now upon the earth. … Surely, beloved, the goodness of God of old has been repeated unto us.” —Charles Spurgeon
“Not one life spent in the cause of world evangelization is spent in vain. Not one prayer or one dollar or one sermon or one letter of encouragement mailed or one little light shining in some dark place—nothing in the cause of the advancing kingdom is in vain. The triumph is sure.” —John Piper
“Perfect humility dispenses with modesty. If God is satisfied with the work, the work may be satisfied with itself.” —C.S. Lewis
“Christ lived the life we could not live, and took the punishment we could not take, to offer the hope we cannot resist. Why? Jesus was angry enough to purge the temple, distraught enough to weep in public, winsome enough to attract kids, poor enough to sleep on dirt, responsible enough to care for His mother, tempted enough to know the smell of satan. Why? Why would heaven’s finest Son endure earth’s toughest pain? So you would know that He is able. . .able to to run to the cry of those who are being tempted, tested and tried.” —Max Lucado
Comedian Tim Hawkins shares what songs may be sung at an “atheist church”―
Craig T. Owens 