Links & Quotes

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“The world has put a little letter before the word ‘musing,’ and these are the days, not for musing, but for a-musing. People will go anywhere for amusement; but to muse is a strange thing to them, and they think it dull and wearisome. … Now there is much virtue in musing, especially if we muse upon the best, the highest, and the noblest of subjects. If we muse upon the things of which we hear and read in sacred Scripture, we shall do wisely. It is well to muse upon the things of God, because we thus get the real nutriment out of them. A man who hears many sermons, is not necessarily well-instructed in the faith. We may read so many religious books, that we overload our brains, and they may be unable to work under the weight of the great mass of paper and printer’s ink. The man who reads but one book, and that book his Bible, and then muses much upon it, will be a better scholar in Christ’s school than he who merely reads hundreds of books, and muses not at all.” —Charles Spurgeon

“Patients do not serve their physicians. They trust them for good prescriptions. The Sermon on the Mount is our Doctor’s medical advice, not our Employer’s job description.” —John Piper

“Every time I open my Bible I will read it as the Word of ‘God, that cannot lie;’ and when I get a promise or a threatening, I will either rejoice or tremble because I know that these stand fast.” —Charles Spurgeon

I can use this: 25 habits to get a better night’s sleep.

Rev. Tim Dilena has an amazing reminder of God’s perfect timing in sending Jesus to earth—He Couldn’t Have Timed It Any Better.

“Given the Greek and Roman acceptance of homosexuality, it is difficult to overstate the courage and conviction required by the early Church to write and speak out on behalf of a biblical, sexual ethic.” Read more in the article When Christians Rejected Homosexuality.

Eric Metaxas shares some good news from Baltimore.

Links & Quotes

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“Who among you today is doing the most for your Master’s kingdom? I will tell you. Lend me a spiritual thermometer by which I may try the heat of your heart, and I will tell you the amount of your success.” —Charles Spurgeon

Max Lucado shares A Prayer For America.

A couple of free ebooks for you―

“Someday there will be a community where everyone behaves and no one complains. But it won’t be this side of heaven. So what do we do? We reason. We confront. We teach. But most of all, we love.” —Max Lucado

“It turns out that the most productive thing we can do is to stop working on someone else’s task list and figure out a more useful contribution instead. This is what separates great organizations from good ones, and extraordinary careers from frustrated ones. The challenge is that the final step requires a short-term hit to your productivity. But, if you fail to invest the time and effort to find a better path, it’s unlikely you’ll find one.” Read more of Seth Godin’s post The Productivity Pyramid.

[PHOTOS] Some really cool pictures from the scientific world.

And for some pseudo-science: Was 2014 “the hottest year on record”? Better read this for the facts.

Links & Quotes

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“Search the Scriptures. Do not merely read them—search them; look up the parallel passages; collate them; try to get the meaning of the Spirit upon any one truth by looking to all the texts which refer to it. Read the Bible consecutively: do not merely read a verse here and there—that is not fair.” —Charles Spurgeon

“How does the Lord reward His diligent ones? It has been my experience that when I walk arm in arm with Jesus, so in love with Him, rewards break out on all sides. Everything I do or have is blessed: my wife, children, friends, ministry. There comes a life of Christ within that flows like a mighty river. Yes, we’ll have trials and tribulations. But through it all He rewards us with manifestations of His presence. … Those who neglect the Lord soon spin out of control as the devil moves in and takes over. Such a person has a devastated self-image. His or her feelings and thoughts cannot be curbed, and their tongue wags and moves under the power of bitterness and anger.” —David Wilkerson

Small problems can become huge problems if they are not addressed early on. Max Lucado has a great reminder in his post Go After The Small Drips.

Here is a great way to check out lots of books. Frank Viola has a link to a special offer from Leaders Book Summaries.

“If the Holy Spirit is obeyed the stubbornness is blown out, the dynamite of the Holy Ghost blows it out.” ―Oswald Chambers

[VIDEO] John Maxwell reminds us that only mature people can compromise to make relationships successful. Check this out―

JumpStart Your Leadership (book review)

JumpStart Your LeadershipJohn Maxwell always gives his readers a treasure-trove of helpful thoughts for personal growth! I would highly recommend anyone to grab any one of his books and dive in. But a good place to start may be JumpStart Your Leadership.

This book is setup as a 90-day journey of leadership growth. Whether someone is just beginning in a leadership position, or has been in a position of leadership for quite some time, this is a tremendous resource. Each day has a quote, a short teaching point from John Maxwell, and then a page to respond to the question of the day. After three months, I am confident you will feel your leadership surging forward.

Small book, big dividends. Get this book and get growing!

I am a Center Street book reviewer.

Lifelong Learner

It’s no secret I love to read. But why do I read? It’s not just to get more information, but to have the tools to help others. Every year I reevaluate my reading list, and ask God to guide me to the wise people from whom I need to learn.

Check out these words from Charles Spurgeon―

C.H. Spurgeon“Paul is inspired, and yet he wants books [2 Timothy 4:13]. He has been preaching for at least thirty years, and yet he wants books! He had seen the Lord, and yet he wants books! He had had a wider experience than most men, and yet he wants books! He had been caught up into the third heaven, and had heard things which it was unlawful for a man to utter, yet he wants books! The apostle says to Timothy and so he says to every preacher, ‘Give attendance to reading’ [1 Timothy 4:13]. The man who never reads will never be read; he who never quotes will never be quoted. He who will not use the thoughts of other men’s brains, proves that he has no brains of his own. Brethren, what is true of ministers is true of all our people. You need to read.” ―Charles Spurgeon

What’s on your reading list this year?

Links & Quotes

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Some good reading from today…

“The mind may be compared to a garden, which it is as necessary to cultivate as any plot of earth, if order and beauty are to be manifested through it. … Ideas, as well as flowers, in order to attain their full beauty, must be kept free from encumbering influences, whatever tends to weaken or degrade or detract from planned perfection.” —Joyce Mayhew

“I thank my Master that He does not say to the sinner, ‘Come half way and meet Me,’ but He comes ‘where he is.’” —Charles Spurgeon

“On the basis of grace as taught in the Word of God, when God forgives a man, He trusts him as though he had never sinned. God did not have mental reservations about any of us when we became His children by faith. When God forgives a man, He doesn’t think, ‘I will have to watch this fellow because he has a bad record.’ No, He starts with him again as though he had just been created and as if there had been no past at all! That is the basis of our Christian assurance—and God wants us to be happy in it.” —A.W. Tozer

Always keep in contact with those books and those people that enlarge your horizon and make it possible for you to stretch yourself mentally.” —Oswald Chambers

Links & Quotes

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These are links to articles and quotes I found interesting today.

Some wonderful quotes from Dr. Seuss.

“Pride is ruthless, sleepless, unsmiling concentration on the self.” —C.S. Lewis

Because he is not defending the Constitution of the United States of America … A Coalition Of Civil Rights Leaders & Pastors Want To Impeach Attorney General Eric Holder

On March 4, 1865, Abraham Lincoln delivered his second inaugural address. It is good to remember his words: “With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan—to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.”

“If I would have my family ennobled, I must honor the Lord in all things. God may allow the wicked to win worldly honors; but the dignity which He Himself gives, even glory, honor, and immortality, He reserves for those who by holy obedience take care to honor Him.” —Charles Spurgeon

9 Ways To Fight The Temptation Of Pornography

[VIDEO] Funny! What if buying coffee was like buying ObamaCare?

Read More And Read Better

It’s no secret that I like to read. I read a little for pleasure, but mostly I read because it makes me a better Christian, a better husband, a better dad, a better preacher. It expands my horizons. It gives me new ideas. It teaches me life lessons. It gives me insights to share with others.

My first priority is to read my Bible every day, and then all of my other reading is filtered through that prism of Scripture. I don’t read only “Christian” books, but I do only read good books.

It’s true: Leaders are readers. If you want to lead more and lead better, read more and read better.

“When a very young minister, I asked the famous holiness preacher, Joseph H. Smith, whether he would recommend that I read widely in the secular field. He replied, ‘Young man, a bee can find nectar in the weed as well as in the flower.’ I took his advice (or, to be frank, I sought confirmation of my own instincts rather than advice) and I am not sorry that I did. John Wesley told the young ministers of the Wesleyan Societies to read or get out of the ministry, and he himself read science and history with a book propped against his saddle pommel as he rode from one engagement to another.” —A.W. Tozer

“Keep yourself full with reading. Reading gives you a vocabulary. Don’t read to remember; read to realize.” —Oswald Chambers

“It is a dreadful deception that learning and mental growing are strictly associated with school. Good reading should be the vocation of a lifetime.” —John Piper

“Paul says to Timothy, so he says to everyone, ‘Give yourself to reading.’ He who will not use the thoughts of other men’s brains proves that he has no brains of his own. You need to read. Renounce as much as you will all light literature but study as much as possible sound theological works, especially the Puritans and expositions of the Bible. The best way for you to spend your leisure is to be either reading or praying.” —C.H. Spurgeon

“The reading of all good books is like conversation with the finest men of past centuries.” —Rene Descartes 

“After all that professors may do for us, the real University is a collection of good books.” —Thomas Carlyle

“Ignoring good books enfeebles vision and strengthens our most fatal tendency; the belief that the here and now is all there is.” —Allan Bloom

The Contemplative Pastor

Search mePastors can get caught in a rut, just like anyone in any number of other professions. That’s why it’s so vital for us to pause often to make sure we haven’t slipped into something without being aware of its impact.

It is absolutely vital for pastors to have regular quiet time with God. Read the Word, pray, contemplate, read other pastors (especially the “old guys”), pray, and contemplate some more. Let the Holy Spirit point out to you any blind spots.

I’ve been contemplating two quotes from the “old guys” over the last few days.

[1] “We prefer to build up converts to our own point of view.” —Oswald Chambers

I want to make sure I’m always allowing the Holy Spirit to be as unique with others as He is with me. I need to be cautious that I’m not making my practices the universal practices for everyone. I need to give these converts a solid biblical foundation, and then let the Spirit build them up as He knows best.

[2] “Recollect, as ministers, that your whole life, your whole pastoral life especially, will be affected by the vigor of your piety. If your zeal grows dull, you will not pray well in the pulpit; you will pray worse in the family, and worst in the study alone. When your soul becomes lean, your hearers, without knowing how or why, will find that your prayers in public have little savor for them; they will feel your barrenness, perhaps, before you feel it yourself.” —Charles Spurgeon

I need to be a praying pastor. My sermons must be birthed in prayer before I deliver them, and sealed in prayer after I deliver them; my appointments must be covered in prayer; my schedule must be directed by prayer; my relationships must be nurtured through prayer. I must be in prayer continually if I am to be effective at anything.

My fellow pastor, I hope you are taking the time to contemplate: to be quiet as you ponder how the Holy Spirit is speaking to you. It is absolutely vital for the health of the part of the Body of Christ to which we minister.

Let Yourself Go!

Pastors, this is good counsel for all of us…

“Think yourself empty, read yourself full, write yourself clear, pray yourself keen—then enter the pulpit and let yourself go!” W.H. Griffith Thomas