There is a contest for a great necklace over at http://bottomlysandethiopia.blogspot.com/2009/11/my-first-blog-giveaway.html
So I have not posted much here in almost a month, not that I have not been thinking about it, but I keep coming back to my use of time. Blogging takes time, energy, effort and much much more. As I have been looking at my use of time, my blog is something that I keep coming back to as not the best use of time in my life. Blogging is a good thing, but is it a great thing, or better asked is it the best thing? At this point in my life I would have to say it is not the best thing for me to do .
So I’m going to be taking a few months and not writing anything here. I will be focusing my blogging efforts on http://atmospherechurch.com and also writing for sermons, and other speaking things.
Thanks for listening and check out http://atmospherechurch.com (we are relaunching a whole new web site in the next month)
Calvin on the Bible and the importance of studying the Holy Scriptures.
Now, in order that true religion may shine on us, we ought to hold that it must take its beginning from heavenly doctrine and that no one can get even the slightest taste of right and sound doctrine unless he be a pupil of the Scripture.
The Soul of Life: The Piety of John Calvin by Joel R. Beeke Pg 120
Study the word of God, drink deep and be satisfied.
Over the past week I have been thinking about the Sabbath, what it is, how we view it and how I tend to neglect it. The thought was placed in my heart when reading some Old Testament passage, where the prophet said the people were neglecting the sabbath. Here is a portion of a sermon by Calvin on the Sabbath.
Calvin – From a sermon on Deuteronomy 5.12-14
Deuteronomy 5.12-14 “‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you.
Let us realize that it is not only for coming to the sermon that the day of Sunday is instituted, but in order that we might devote all the rest of time to praising God…. It is true that it would be a poor thing if we did not think about the benefits of God except on Sunday, but on other days, seeing that we are so occupied with our affairs, we are not as much open to serve God as on a day totally dedicated to this. Thus we ought to observe Sunday as if in a tower, in order that we might climb high up on it to contemplate the works of God from afar, in a way in which we are neither impeded by or occupied with anything else, so that we might be able to extend all our senses to recognize the benefits and favor with which he has enlarged us. And when Sunday is able to help us practice that – that is to consider the works of God – then certainly once we have meditated on his works for a long time in order to know how to benefit from them, we will surrender to him all the rest of the time…. But when Sunday is spent not only in pastimes full of vanity, but in things that are entirely contrary to God, it seems that one has not at all celebrated Sunday [and] that God has been offended in many ways. Thus, when people profane in this manner the holy order that God has instituted to lead us to himself, why should they be astonished if all the rest of the week is degraded?
The Soul of Life: The Piety of John Calvin by Joel R. Beeke Pg 111-112
What a great last question. There is really no need to answer it, because Calvin has already showed us the answer. How is your Sabbath spent? Do you sit and gaze upon the face of your King and Savior, or do you gaze at the TV, self, beach? Maybe this is why it feels as if God is so distance throughout the week.
Free Book Giveaway over at Crossway books! HERE
The registration for Lead09, featuring Tim Chester & Jonathan Dodson, is now open. Only $75 until Sept 18th.
I just recently finished the book When Sinners Say ‘I Do’ and it was truly a great read. Over the next couple weeks I will be posting some of the best excerpts and quotes (post 1 of quotes).
Here are the chapter titles, so that you can get a feel for the book:
Chapter 1 – What Really Matters in Marriage
Chapter 2 – Waking Up With the Worst of Sinners
Chapter 3 – The Fog of War and the Law of Sin
Chapter 4 – Taking it Out for a Spin
Chapter 5 – Mercy Triumphs Over Judgment
Chapter 6 – Forgiveness, Full and Free
Chapter 7 – The Surgeon, the Scalpel, and the Spouse in Sin
Chapter 8 – Stubborn Grace
Chapter 9 – Concerning Sex
Chapter 10 – When Sinners Say Goodbye
I know this is my third time mentioning this book, but it is that worth getting. Chapter 10, When Sinners Say Goodbye, brought me to tears a couple of times. The gospel flows from this book, and I don’t believe I know a married, or soon to be married couple that should not read this book. It is that amazing!
Mark Driscoll had a post over at the Resurgence talking about Influence [it is a great post]. There he talked about how much of an influence Mars Hill has been blessed to have in the USA and the World. He is asking for help to have more influence for Jesus, which I would recommend Christians to do who have been blessed by Driscoll and the ministry of Mars Hill, Acts 29, or the Resurgence.
Here are some thoughts, and challenge that grew out of his post:
1. Where is your influence?
Each of us have a major influence on people in our ministry, work etc… We just need to identify it. For me I have influence on the college freshman that I meet with every other Wednesday to mentor. I have influence on my Adult leadership team of 14. These are all areas which God has placed me in to have influence, for good or bad.
2. What are you doing with it?
Many times we default to letting guys like Piper, Driscoll or other leaders do the work. Our response is ‘some day when my ministry is big I will have influence’ or ‘if only my ministry was______’. We need to understand our influence whether it be on a group of 10 teens, 150 adults or our spouse & kids.
3. Are we proclaiming Jesus, self or others?
The key to influence is what you do with it. All of us in our lives have influence in some area and aspect. The real questions is not ‘do we’ but ‘what do we do with it’ One of the greatest reasons Mars Hill has influence on such a large scale is because they have been faithful with little, God has blessed them with much. Amid all the issues and junk that is thrown at Driscoll, and Mars Hill, they keep proclaiming Jesus. Not defending themselves, arguing or slinging mud back. Satan loves to divide form within (Acts. 5). Flee the fighting, you will loose your influence. Teach Jesus and the Gospel, be faithful!
Now what will you do with what you have for influence. My heart was stirred by Driscolls post to bring God glory, to think big, to work hard as we trust God for the results, to understand the global scale of ministry. It was also stirred to understand my part of the calling as I serve alongside brothers and sisters around the world. Indeed God is doing some amazing things through ministries such as Desiring God, the Resurgence, Sovereign Grace to name a few. He is also doing some amazing things through His faithful servants such as Joshua Harris, Matt Chandler, John MacArthur and many many more. But let us not forget the faithful men who influence every day in small congregations across America and the world for Jesus’ fame! May we serve well, proclaim Jesus and teach the Word!
Many people, including myself, have a hard time with reading. One of my professors said that if your a male and you read one book a year your in the top 5% of all men in the nation for reading. That is a sad fact. I heard it said that as Christians we can’t really say we don’t like reading, because our faith is found in a book. If we want to know more about our Lord and Savior we must read.
The top two hindrance to reading as I see it are; 1. Time 2. Like/dislike. I would argue that you will never like reading until you start reading. Throughout high school and my first couple years of college I HATED reading. My mom had to pay me to read in high school! But as I started reading I have fell in love with reading.
This post will address hindrance number 1 (time) with the hope that if you make time you will start to enjoy reading.
Here are 5 things I have observed that I can do, and you, to redeem your time so that you can read.
1. Calendar - If you don’t have a calendar then you are probably missing out on tons of stuff in your life. What is on your calendar is what is important to you. If reading is one of those things you should plan on times to read. Maybe only schedule 15min a day and go from there, it is a start.
2. Early / Late – Some of the best time I have for reading is right when I wake up and right before I go to bed. Most nights I read for a minimum of an hr before I go to bed. Many mornings I will read for 30min or more to start my day off. For some reason both of these times seem to be very low key and there is always a little extra time to read.
3. Always have a book – Many of you would never carry around a Satchel (I do and don’t feel gay at all) but you are really missing out. Think of all the times that you waste at a doctors office, waiting for your car to be fixed, arriving early for a meeting. If you have a bag full of books you will always have a chance to redeem your time and read.
4. Bathroom Breaks – I know it may sound gross, ok only to any girls who are reading this. But the bathroom is a great place to redeem time to read. Add up the time your in there in a week and you would be surprised at how much reading you could be getting done.
5. Write – One of the things that has helped me to read more is to write more. Writing in two ways; 1. in the book 2. in a journal. 1. When you underline, write notes and highlight in a book you will remember things better. You will also have vested interest in the book; now you have things to go back and look at. 2. Write in a journal, thoughts, quotes, Bible passages, prayers, anything and everything. You will be glad you did.
If you only took the times that I have listed above and spent them reading you would have;
1= 15min a day
2= 30min a day
3= 1 hr a month
4= 5-15min a day
It all adds up!
Crazy Love by Francis Chan is an amazing book that I would 
recommend everyone read. The best part is that this month at Christian Audio it is free. So even if you don’t like reading now you can download the audio and listen to this truly amazing and challenging book.
Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God
[amazon for those who do like to read]
(HT: Jason Kovacs abba fund)
