Practical Application of Romans 12:1

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer you bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.

H.T. Out of Ur

The Comprehensive Cohabitation of Marriage Will Expose You

This is from What Did You Expect (chapter 10) by Paul Tripp:

You see, the comprehensive cohabitation of marriage will expose you.  It will reveal your true heart and your true character.  The pressures, opportunities, and responsibilities of marriage will shine a light not only on your strengths but also on your weaknesses, failures, and sins.  What you really want, what you truly value, and what you think and do when you do not get these things will be exposed.

and

When you are working on rebuilding trust, you need to place your hope not in your husband or wife but in the third person in your marriage, the Lord Jesus.  He is in with you and for you. As the designer of marriage and the one who brought you together, he has more zeal that your marriage would actually be what he created it to be than you will ever have.  He has the wisdom you need.  He has the strength you need.  He offers the forgiveness you need.  And he will not leave you when the going gets tough.  Cry out to him; he will never turn a deaf ear to you.

There are many more pearls in this chapter – buy the book – worth every penny.

Christian Spirituality

Zondervan Publishers has an excellent blog called Koinonia (Greek for fellowship).  It is a great place to learn about new books and current trends in Christianity.  Every once in awhile they provide books to be reviewed.  I recently received a copy of the Dictionary of Christian Spirituality.  I really like it and provide some of my thoughts below:

3 Reasons Why We Invest in Togo: Julienne, Bawa, & Marie’s Aunt

Recently a group from GLBC have been helping sort donated medical supplies for the Hospital of Hope in Mango, Togo.   We’ve invested a lot of money and time in Togo (both the existing Hospital in Tsiko and the Hospital of Hope being built in Mango)  as a congregation and this email from Tim Neufeld in Mango reminds us that our investment and partnership has weighty consequences.

Love Your Actual Spouse . . . Not Your Preferred One

Two quotes from this article: Love the One You’re With by Jeremy Pierre.

Spousal resistance anchors you to reality, a reality in which God calls you to love your actual spouse, not your preferred one.

and

So if your wife laughs too easily for your taste, love her for it. If she’s more pessimistic than you prefer, minister to her fears. If your husband is quieter in social gatherings than you’d like, be grateful for it. If he has more difficulty making plans than you think reasonable, come alongside happily. In all the little spousal resistances, celebrate the privilege of loving a person, not an image.

Why do I like this country song so much?

What do you like about it?

 

Keep Me Near the Cross with the Bishop and the B3

Sing it brother!   Love the organ!  If only I could sing like this brother, and have his title.  Something about “Bishop” that sounds good . . . along with the groovin Hammond B3 organ.  Make sure you pray “Have thine own way Lord” with the sister at 1:55 in the video!  Amen

Help! I watch too much TV and Facebook too much!

I feel enslaved to the “escape” of the TV and internet. What can I do?  Dr. Mike Emlet responds to a question from a man who feels the need to “escape” to TV and internet instead of spending time with his family.

From CCEF

 

 

We Need Real Men, not Video Game Boys

My boys and I had a talk a couple of weeks ago about how we were not going to let their IPODs control their lives, that they were men and needed to cultivate the things that encourage what God wants men to be like. Men who are disciplined, strong in character, and rooted in reality, not video game boys who dance around in a self indulged facebook, internet, mamby pamby, self-absorbed, I am the center of the Universe, world of a toddler.

Nick Bogardus writes here about the culture shift we are now experiencing where men are no longer men.

Here’s his best line:

Perhaps the most loving, most prophetic thing the church can do is to call men in their 20s to love Jesus, read their Bibles, get a job, to leave their parent’s house, and to love one woman—according to the Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, and the New York Times, no one is doing that.

What saddens me most is that he should include “& 30s” with his quote above.  This men to boys club is much larger than the 20-year-old generation.  Will the real men please stand up!

H.T. Z

This is How Satan Tempts Us

When I was young, this scared me – I always despised the child catcher and feared him greatly.  If  you think about it – this is how Satan tempts us and how our brothers and sisters call out to us  to stop, and we run happily into the trap of the Devil.