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Around the Web (5/9)

May 9, 2013 — Leave a comment

CHEAP eBook Deals of the Day: 52 Things Kids Need from a Mom (Angela Thomas) – $2.51 (81% off); Raising a Daughter After God’s Own Heart (Elizabeth George) – $2.51 (81% off); The Power of a Praying Woman (Stormie Omartian) – $3.49 (75% off).
Great Commission perspective from The Washington Post: “More than half of humanity lives within this circle.”
When Mother’s Day is hard… Trillia Newbell shares a note worth reading (and sharing) before this weekend.
Edwin Crozier knew he had a problem. He’s not the only one.
Gary Henry provides a much needed reminder, “Speech is among the highest of our gifts as God’s creatures, and it is a most serious thing to employ this gift in speaking about the Creator Himself. The gravity of saying anything untrue about God is such that it would be far better to remain silent than to speak in error. And yet, we often speak with shocking carelessness about God, casually tossing around opinions about Him as if it were no more than a game.”

What Will Be Clear After Death

February 12, 2013 — Leave a comment

Sunrise

When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been. (Rev 6:9-11)

On this side of death, there are seasons wherein we struggle to maintain confidence in an all-present, all-powerful, all-knowing God who reigns supreme with perfect power and complete authority.

On this side of death, there are stormy days and nights that threaten to overwhelm our feeble grasps on the anchor of a God who is beyond reproach in his holiness and love.

On this side of death, there are heartbreaking moments that shake the very foundations of our faith in a God who is true and worthy of trust.

On this side of death, believers have no choice but to walk by faith (2 Cor 5:7).

But on the other side of death, how different is the story!

In Bible, Pitfalls 6, belief, Christian, death, faith, God, grief, heaven, holy, hope, Life, love, obedience, Revelation, Sovereign, true, trust

A Day for Hatred

December 14, 2012 — 2 Comments

Powerful thoughts below from Jen Wilkin.

Newtown Connecticut

Today is a day for hatred.

As I write this article, the death count stands at 20 children. Twenty. Twenty babies who got on a bus or walked out a door or stepped out of a car at the drop-off curb and are never coming home.

Father in heaven, their lunchboxes still hold uneaten sandwiches, unread love notes scrawled on napkins.

For 20 families, the worst fear a parent can know was waiting at the other end of a phone line today. Eleven days before Christmas, no less. Those children and teachers who survived will carry in their heads sights and sounds that will haunt them for the rest of their lives.

And what comfort is there to offer them? What words are there to speak? A parent takes every measure possible to protect a child, though we know full well the world is not safe. But this?

There is no spin to put on a story like this. Yes, we will hear stories of heroism begin to emerge over the next hours, and they are stories we will need to hear. But there is no way to soften the blow.

Nor should we want to.

As a mother watching someone else’s horror play out on a screen, I want to feel this to the core of my being. I want it to inform my thoughts and actions in a way that leaves me changed. Because on days like today we learn just how broken sin has left us, just how bleak is our landscape without a Savior.

Days like today give us no choice but to hate. They leave us only with a choice of where that hatred will land: Will we hate God, or will we hate sin?

In Culture Bible, Connecticut, elementary, God, grief, hate, Jen Wilkin, meaning, Newtown, purpose, school, Scripture, shooting, sin, tragedy, why

Thanksgiving That Eclipses All Hardship

November 22, 2012 — Leave a comment

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus… For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Rom 8:1, 18).

I am “in Christ.” I was baptized into his death, buried with him that I might be raised to walk in newness of life (Rom 6:3-4). Therefore…

In Discipleship blessings, cancer, Christian, cross, crown, death, disciple, glory, grief, groaning, loneliness, loss, oppression, pain, persecution, pleasure, poverty, tears, thankful, thanks, thanksgiving

Around the Web (10/25)

October 25, 2012 — Leave a comment

Dan Bouchelle encourages Christians to reflect, “So, if you have a faithful preacher who is there week after week, doing his best to serve the Word and serve the church, you might want to think twice before you do your no-holds-barred evaluation. You might be shocked to learn what his week has been like. I doubt you want his job.”
Dene Ward uses the example of Mrs. Job to pose this question: “If Satan were going to test my spouse, would he take me, or leave me?”
Ethan Longhenry introduces Revelation and encourages us to remember: “Revelation, therefore, uses all sorts of images to describe conditions which the early Christians would face.”
Gary Henry reflects on schedule books and sacrifice. “So the next time you have to make a choice in regard to two events that are trying to occupy the same slot in your schedule book, ask yourself what is TRULY the most important to you.”
Andy Sochor explores the faith to move mountains. “A faith that is strong enough to move mountains and is able to make all things possible is a powerful thought. But many miss the point of this passage.”
Astronomers have cataloged 84 million stars at the heart of the Milky Way galaxy using an enormous cosmic photo snapped by a telescope in Chile, a view that is billed as the largest survey ever of the stars in our galaxy’s core.

Around the Web (9/14)

September 14, 2012 — Leave a comment

Around the Web

After revealing, “I don’t really want forgiveness,” Edwin Crozier asks, “I’m Forgiven! Now What?”

In Around the Web baby, child, Christian, Christianity, death, desktop, despair, digital, Edwin Crozier, experience, forgiveness, free, God, grief, heartache, hymn, hymnal, infant, iPad, iPhone, iPod, Ken Weliever, lesson, Life, LORD, loss, Marriage, naps, parent, plan, power, scientific, sorrow, Today, Video, wallpaper

To What (Or Whom) Are Mean People Driving You?

June 7, 2012 — 2 Comments

Some people are mean. Plain and simple. They boast. They’re arrogant and rude. They enjoy rivalry. They try to irritate. They’re skillful at crushing the spirits of others. They walk in the footsteps of Peninnah, who used to provoke Hannah grievously to irritate her.

If you find yourself in the place of Hannah today, could I encourage you to ask a question? To what (or whom) is this mean person driving me?

In Discipleship, Men, Pitfalls, Women 1 Samuel, Bible, control, depression, discouragement, emotion, grief, Hannah, irritate, mean, Peninnah, provoke, revenge, self, vengeance

The Silence and Salvation of God in Psalm 22

August 11, 2011 — Leave a comment

How can we navigate through those difficult periods in life when God seems silent and absent? This sermon, taken from Psalm 22, encourages you to learn from David—a man after God’s own heart—who reasoned his way from extreme pain to confident hope.

Listen to the sermon
Interactive outline

For more sermon outlines and recordings, be sure to visit the Sermons archive.

In Bible 22, Audio, Bible, David, despair, disappointment, faith, God, grief, hope, Jason Hardin, loss, mp3, outline, pdf, Psalm, salvation, Scripture, sermon, silence, sorrow

A Talk With God About Coming Home

May 26, 2011 — Leave a comment

How does God feel when his people (who know better) refuse to repent?

____________ “When men fall, do they not rise again?
_________________ If one turns away, does he not return?
____________ Why then has this people turned away
_________________ in perpetual backsliding?
____________ They hold fast to deceit;
_________________ they refuse to return.
____________ I have paid attention and listened,
_________________ but they have not spoken rightly;
____________ no man relents of his evil,
_________________ saying, ‘What have I done?’
____________ Everyone turns to his own course,
_________________ like a horse plunging headlong into battle.
____________ Even the stork in the heavens
_________________ knows her times,
____________ and the turtledove, swallow, and crane
_________________ keep the time of their coming,
____________ but my people know not the rules of the LORD.” (Jer 8:4-7)

Is it really that big of a deal? I want to live my life the way I want. Can’t it wait?

____________ “Your hurt is incurable,
_________________ and your wound is grievous.” (Jer 30:12)

I’ll find something or someone else to fix me. I know what I’m doing.

____________ “There is none to uphold your cause,
_________________ no medicine for your wound,
_________________ no healing for you.” (Jer 30:13)

Are you telling me it’s too late?

____________ “There is hope for your future,
_________________ declares the LORD.” (Jer 31:17)

What would a willingness to repent sound like?

____________ “You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined,
_________________ like an untrained calf;
____________ bring me back that I may be restored,
_________________ for you are the LORD my God.
____________ For after I had turned away, I relented,
_________________ and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh;
____________ I was ashamed, and I was confounded,
_________________ because I bore the disgrace of my youth.” (Jer 31:18-19)

Is the One I’ve spurned even willing to take me back?

____________ “Is Ephraim my dear son?
_________________ Is he my darling child?
____________ For as often as I speak against him,
_________________ I do remember him still.
____________ Therefore my heart yearns for him;
_________________ I will surely have mercy on him, declares the LORD.” (Jer 31:20)

But I’ve wandered a long way from home.

____________ “Set up road markers for yourself;
_________________ make yourself guideposts;
____________ consider well the highway,
_________________ the road by which you went.” (Jer 31:21)

But I’m not sure I can make it, or if I’m even worthy of coming back.

____________ “With weeping they shall come,
_________________ and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back,
____________ I will make them walk by brooks of water,
_________________ in a straight path in which they shall not stumble.” (Jer 31:9)

But what if it’s too hard?

____________ “I will satisfy the weary soul,
_________________ and every languishing soul I will replenish.” (Jer 31:25)

But what about the guilt and the shame and the sorrow I feel?

____________ “I will turn their mourning into joy;
_________________ I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.” (Jer 31:13)

But…

____________ “How long will you waver,
_________________ O faithless daughter?” (Jer 31:22)

Are you sure? I’ve made a lot of mistakes.

____________ “You shall be my people,
_________________ and I will be your God.” (Jer 30:22)

In Bible acknowledge, around, Bible, forgiveness, God, grief, guilt, Home, Jeremiah, mistake, penance, prophet, repent, repentance, sanctification, shame, sorrow, turn, word

Sin Creates an Incurable Wound

May 3, 2011 — Leave a comment

Though the words were spoken 2,600 years ago, sin is still sin and mankind continues to stumble in selfishness and insurrection.

____________ “For thus says the LORD:
____________ Your hurt is incurable,
_________________ and your wound is grievous.
____________ There is none to uphold your cause,
_________________ no medicine for your wound,
_________________ no healing for you.
____________ All your lovers have forgotten you;
_________________ they care nothing for you;
____________ for I have dealt you the blow of an enemy,
_________________ the punishment of a merciless foe,
____________ because your guilt is great,
_________________ because your sins are flagrant.
____________ Why do you cry out over your hurt?
_________________ Your pain is incurable.
____________ Because your guilt is great,
_________________ because your sins are flagrant,
_________________ I have done these things to you.” (Jer 30:12-15)

Flagrant sin creates a wound that is incurable for human beings. Scoffing at it will not salve. Making light of it will not alleviate. Downplaying it will not dampen the pain. The hurt is incurable. The wound is grievous. And there is no medicine.

Rebellion against the Sovereign Creator of the universe cannot be satisfactorily soothed with drugs, alcohol, sex, a new job, a new house, marriage, divorce, a second marriage, children, man-made religion, societal advancement or the acquiring of more stuff. The alluring lovers who deceptively promise us satisfaction and healing and fulfillment inevitably forsake us, leaving behind guilt that is crushing and pain that is merciless. The bandaids of this world may temporarily hide the holes, but they cannot heal the wounds.

Thanks be to God, therefore, that he is patient and gracious (Jer 30:17). His Son, Jesus the Christ, “made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant” (Phil 2:5-7). He welcomed receptive tax collectors and penitent sinners as sufferers in need of healing. When the religious elite grumbled and questioned his motives, Jesus said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Mat 9:10-13; Luke 5:29-32).

There are some wounds that are incurable apart from Christ. The gospel clearly communicates that healing is available, hurts are curable, and sin is forgivable. But only for those who are willing to admit that they are needy, sick, and helpless. Only for those who flee to Jesus as the Great Physician.

In Bible, Pitfalls cross, great, grief, guilt, heal, incurable, Jeremiah, Jesus, loss, physician, redemption, sin, sinner, tax collector, wound