On the Blogs for February 27, 2012

What's in a Name? Thoughts on the SBC name change

Justified by Faith or by Works? (this was a good article)

Playing Games (interesting)

Not what I signed up for... (interesting)

Contemporary Tolerance is nothing of the sort (good article)

Indecision - (this is excellent)

Addiction - Disease, Demons, or Decision?

Discipleship (good stuff)

When Good Desires Morph into Idolatry

Gospel Enterprise Investers

This past Sunday we examined the implications for us of Paul's commendation to the Philippian church. Paul expresses this commendation in Philippians 4:14-16.

He commends the Philippian church first for their partnership or fellowship in the gospel (that is the gospel mission). Then he commends them for their generosity in that partnership of giving their time, energy, and resources.

From Paul's elaboration on this commendation in vv. 17-20, we learned four implications for us today:

1. Investing generously in the gospel enterprise bears spiritual fruit.

2. Investing generously in the gospel enterprise is an expression of worship to God.

3. Investing generously in the gospel enterprise is a reflection of trust in God's sufficiency.

4. Investing generously in the gospel enterprise draws attention to the ultimate goal of all things.

Our question for the day is this: What does our investment portfolio show about our investing?

Godly Contentment

This past Sunday morning, we examined Philippians 4:10-13 and discovered from Paul's example three pillars of godly contentment.

Pillar #1 - Godly contentment rests in God's timing

Pillar #2 - Godly contentment rests in God's providence

Pillar #3 - Godly contentment rests in God's provision

Sorry to all you alliteration folks out there, I couldn't come up with a "p" word for the first one. I guess I could have used "promptness", but oh well.

The whole idea of contentment in the passage actually begins back in 4:4 with the exhortation to "rejoice in the Lord" and continues all the way through many people's favorite verse, 4:13 - "I can do all things through him who strengthens me".

We also pointed out that there is a distinction between godly contentment and an ungodly contentment. Paul was "content" in Christ with respect to his circumstances, but he was never "content" (apathetic, complacent) in his pursuit of knowing Christ - Philippians 3:1-11.

May our pursuit of Christ never be quenched! May we always run after Him!

The Personhood of all "Human Beings"

This is a very powerful video from Abort73

Personhood

On the Blogs for February 20, 2012

Yes, it's been a while, but here are some articles worthy of your time:

5 Reasons You Can't Be the Leader you Were 5 Years Ago

Learning to Stand

The Church is... (this article is excellent)

Left Behind for Now (good article about the end times)

Spiritual Leadership - Heartbreaking but Always Hopeful

Historical Reliability of the NT (excellent article)

Christians and Gambling

5 Core Values of a Church in Decline (interesting)

On the Blogs for February 6, 2012

Don't Start a Movement (interesting)

Top 5 Lies Christians Believe

Structuring for Maximum Edification

TD Jakes and the Elephant Room (in case you are interested)

Carson and Keller on Jakes (another one if you interested - and it shows why doctrine is essential)

Sitting in the Chair of Trust

We studied Philippians 4:4-7 yesterday talking about the issue of worry.

Here are the principles to remember from our time together yesterday.

1. Remember to rejoice in the Lord
2. Remember that the Lord is near.
3. Remember to pray.
4. Remember to be thankful.

Living an anxiety free life is not easy. These are not part of a magic formula to make all our worries go away, but they are principles that we can apply daily to help us "sit in the chair of trust" with more consistency as the Lord continues draw us into a deeper relationship of trust with himself.

Matthew 11:28-30.

A Few Blogs for Super Bowl Sunday

More than a Few Tears (this is really good)

Fathers Leading in tehe Home

5 Ways to Lead Your Wife

Empty Minds and Empty hearts

When God Speaks to us