December 2011
86 posts
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To be preoccupied with getting theological knowledge as an end in itself, to approach Bible study with no higher a motive than a desire to know all the answers, is the direct route to a state of self-satisfied self-deception. We need to guard our hearts against such an attitude, and pray to be kept from it. There can be no spiritual health without doctrinal knowledge; but it is equally true that...
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I like pudding
“I ask you for the moment to stop your ears to those who tell you there is no road to knowledge about God, and come a little way with me and see. After all, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and anyone who is actually following a recognized road will not be too worried if he hears nontravelers telling each other that no such road exists.”
J. I. Packer, Knowing God
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The body of Christ is looking for vessels with not just power but purity of heart and radical obedience to Jesus Christ. We don’t need people anointed for a few months to lead short-lived revivals, but long-term laborers who grow in power and authority and serve God faithfully till He comes.
-Shelley Hundley
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The most excellent study for expanding the soul, is the science of Christ, and Him crucified, and the knowledge of the Godhead in the glorious Trinity. Nothing will so enlarge the intellect, nothing so magnify the whole soul of man, as a devout, earnest, continued investigation of the great subject of the Deity.
J. I. Packer, Knowing God
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Beloved, I'm pleading
Beloved, if you spend more time on tumblr than in the secret place it is an idol that you need to surrender over to God. Jesus is truly worthy of preeminence over every aspect of our lives, social networking included. Friend, I’m pleading with you to consider in light of eternity and the cross. In His presence is fullness of joy and all wisdom beyond our imagination. Beloved, do not take...
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The low view of God entertained almost universally among Christians is the cause of a hundred lesser evils everywhere among us.
A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy
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Keep yourself as a stranger here on earth, a pilgrim whom its affairs do not concern at all. Keep your heart free and raise it up to God, for you have not here a lasting home. To Him direct your prayers, your sighs and tears, that your soul may merit after death to pass in happiness to the Lord.
Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ
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He who seeks anything but God alone and the salvation of his soul will find only trouble and grief, and he who does not try to become the least, the servant of all, cannot remain at peace for long.
-Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ
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“The teaching of Christ is more excellent than all the advice of the saints, and he who has His spirit will find in it a hidden manna. Now, there are many who hear the Gospel often but care little for it because they have not the spirit of Christ. Yet whoever wishes to understand fully the words of Christ must try to pattern his whole life on that of Christ.”
-Thomas à Kempis, The...
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“On paper, theology is captivating, it stirs the heart and mind and seizes the imagination. In person, theology is devastating, it shocks a man to his very core to see with his own eyes and feel in his very bones the truth that prayer changes reality and that Jesus, God of the universe, is moving in the world today. The current of this movement is one I simply must be swept away in.” -Josh Dies...
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logmatthew:
“Nobody will stop you from creating. Do it tonight. Do it tomorrow. That is the way to make your soul grow - whether there is a market for it or not! The kick of creation is the act of creating, not anything that happens afterward. I would tell all of you watching this screen: Before you go to bed, write a four line poem. Make it as good as you can. Don’t show it to anybody. Put it...
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We’ve been studying Christianity for so long, perhaps it’s time to begin living like Christ?
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conformingtotheson:
“How can men sit and hear the Word of the living God and not catch fire?”
—Leonard Ravenhill
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Road Trip
Hey friends! I’m leaving tonight on a road trip to go to OneThing KC. I’ll be picking up some friends who are going on the world race with me so I’ll be stopping in Atlanta, Nashville, and then Kansas City. Last road trip I did, I had some people ask why I didn’t tell them I would be in their town, so here we go!
•I will be leaving Rockledge tonight around 11pm to...
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“At Christmas, we see Jesus as a little babe — helpless and poor. And He came to love and be loved. How can we love Jesus in the world today? By loving Him in my husband, my wife, my children, my brothers and sisters, my parents, my neighbors and the poor. Let us gather around the poor crib in Bethlehem and make a strong resolution that we will love Jesus in all those we meet...
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The Whole Chronicle of the Incarnation
Leo the Great preached, “Truly wondrous is the whole chronicle of the incarnation. From the time when Christ came, the ancient slavery is ended, the devil confounded, demons take to flight, the power of death is broken, paradise is unlocked, the curse is taken away, sin is removed from us, error driven out, truth has been brought back, and the speech of kindliness diffused. A heavenly way...
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No Greater Reward
“The love of Jesus is the highest pleasure of the human heart. If we were to search heaven and earth, we could find this to be true. In all of the wonderful pleasures of life, in this age and the age to come, the supreme enjoyment of life is in the exchange of love with the person of Jesus Christ. There is no greater reward. His love is the highest, the richest, the most pleasing of...
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Letter & my prayer for you
Letter from Leonard Ravenhill encouraging young missionary friends, Billy & Bobbie Moore:
“I am very serious, dear ones. I do not want you to become the ordinary missionaries, and certainly not just book-sellers or tract distributors. I want the power of another world to be upon you. There is a whole God for you, a whole Bible for you, and a whole revelation. But it will cost you...
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Salvation is not something which is merely announced to us, it is something which God works in us – the forceful intrusion of his holiness into our history.
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I trust that God will give me a vision that will never be blurred, a zeal that will never be lessened, and a burden that will never be lightened.
-Allan McLeod
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What’s wrong with American Christianity is that we do not love God — we only like him.
-Leonard Ravenhill
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North Korea Update
Let me tell you what friends, the Intercessory prayer tonight for North Korea was such kairos timing and went SO well. Had some friends who are missionaries in China who had some insight from the inside that I would like to share with you, and one of them so graciously let me borrow their computer to update you all.
To stand in the gap on behalf of our brothers and sisters in one of the...
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North Korea: Call to Prayer →
“With the death of Kim Jong Il, we stand at a key moment… Please join me in praying for a change in leadership at this key moment and for protection of South Korea and the region. For it is at these times when things are most unstable.”
Take a few minutes and read this great blog post with valuable information from my friend, Ed Stetzer. It’s a pivotal time for the...
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“Love is a harsh and dreadful thing to ask of us, but it is the only answer.”
- Dorothy Day
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The true Gospel
Desmond Tutu, a South African bishop and leader in the movement to end apartheid, said, “I don’t preach a social gospel; I preach the gospel, period. The gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is concerned for the whole person. When people were hungry, Jesus didn’t say, ‘Now is that political or social?’. He said, ‘I feed you.’ Because the good news to a hungry...
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In everything, give thanks
Well friends, today has been a wild one. (Bare with me, as this is coming off my iPhone). I had a meeting with the Missions Director of my old home church that I had played in the worship band for 5+ years— before the Gospel wrecked my life.. i.e. before I took Jesus’ words seriously and sold all of my music equipment.
Well, anyways, we talked about support for the world race at...
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Another world is possible
Saw a post from a friend on Facebook today who had bought food, essentials, and Christmas cards to give out to our homeless neighbors and so I jumped on board. Had an amazing time loving, listening, sharing, and seeing some eye-opening things about the status of my homeless neighbors in my own community. For example, my brother Roger, who just got baptized two weeks ago and lives in an abandoned...
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There is a different way
nomoresea:
“The poor in spirit will be making the kingdom of heaven happen. The meek will be taking over the earth, so gently that the powerful won’t notice until it’s too late. The peacemakers will be putting the arms manufacturers out of business. Those who are hungry and thirsty for God’s justice will be analysing government policy and legal rulings and speaking up on behalf of those at the...
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Venture Out
thesunisfalling:
““No, life cannot be understood flat on a page. It has to be lived; a person has to get out of his head, has to fall in love, has to memorize poems, has to jump off bridges into rivers, has to stand in an empty desert and whisper sonnets under his breath… We get one story, you and I, and one story alone. God has established the elements, the setting and the climax and resolution....
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Whatever limited good we can accomplish by political means, we must remember that the hope of the world doesn’t reside here. It resides in God using surrendered people to usher in his Kingdom through self-sacrificial acts of love. Our focus must not be on resolving political conflicts but on individually and collectively looking like Jesus. Our sole confidence must be in God who uses the...
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It is not only reasonable to question when it comes to matters of faith, but also responsible. Whether held by ourselves or by others, if we are not open to investigating dogmatic sacred or secular beliefs and holding them under scrutiny, then we are destined to be tossed about on the waves of popular opinion, and become victims of those wolves in sheep’s clothing who prey on the ignorance of...
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Means and Ends Must Cohere
officialjamesbarnett:
It’s one of the strangest things that all the great military geniuses of the world have talked about peace. The conquerors of old who came killing in pursuit of peace, Alexander, Julius Caesar, Charlemagne, and Napoleon, were akin in seeking a peaceful world order. If you will read Mein Kampf closely enough, you will discover that Hitler contended that everything he did in...
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”As long as there is one man who should be free, as long as slums and ghettos exist, as long as any person goes to bed hungry at night, as long as the color of a man’s skin is his prison, there must be a divine discontent. We Christians have no right to be content until the principles of Christ are applied to all men.”
- Billy Graham
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Christmas Beyond the Pattern
One of the hardest things for me to process regarding the Christmas season is that we can exist in a world where thousands are stressed looking for gifts for people who don’t need them; and exist in a world where thousands are without food and basic necessities, many of them, in our own communities.
Last weekend, I went to the mall—which I’m becoming to despise more and more...
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“Whatever our own opinions about how the kingdom of the world should run, whatever political or ethical views we may happen to embrace, our one task as kingdom of God disciples is to fight for people, and the way we do it is by doing exactly what Jesus did.”
— Greg Boyd
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WatchFirst Flight
A couple friends and I shot a brief fixed gear video last weekend, and here it is!
Yes, my shirt is unbuttoned a little much. I like the freedom. Judge me. ;)
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brandtrusso:
“Sometimes in your life, hope that you might see one starved man, the look on his face when the bread finally arrives. Hope that you might have baked it or bought it or even kneaded it yourself. For that look on his face, for your meeting his eyes across a piece of bread, you might be willing to lose a lot, or suffer a lot, or die a little, even.”
—
Daniel Berrigan
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For all of you upset over the “Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays” battle, I have a humble suggestion. Instead of being defensive, how about simply being the “Christ” that you’d wish to see in “Christmas”. -Brandt Russo
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“How can we enjoy pleasures amidst the calamities of our bretheren. May God preserve me from being rich while they are indignant, from enjoying robust health if I do not try to cure their diseases. From eating good food, clothing myself well, and resting in my home, if I do not share with them a piece of my bread, and give them in the measure of my abilities part of my clothes, and if I do...
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Devastating Explosions →
Men everywhere, you’re welcome.
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Orthodoxy
“Orthodoxy, meaning right belief, and orthopraxis, meaning right practice” must always go together. And too often we have only seen Christianity as a set of doctrines or beliefs. So congregations end up with a “statement of faith” but without a “statement of practices”. We must have both or else we get sloppy with our theology or we get sloppy with how we live and lose the distinctiveness of...
