Monthly Archives: November 2014

Sunday, Nov. 30 I’m not sure where I got this, possibly from Howard Hendricks. “The beatitudes describe attitudes. Right attitudes lead to good character. And then we are declared to be salt and light. As salt we display to the … Continue reading →

Saturday, Nov. 29 “To be effective for God, we need to be crushed.”–Doug Burch. That statement conjures up a number of things. How effective for God am I? What do I need to do to be what God wants me … Continue reading →

Friday, Nov. 28                                  “Jesus wept three times—all of them because of the grip of sin on the human race.”—Tom Thieme.  He wept before raising … Continue reading →

Thursday, Nov. 27                 Thanksgiving Day—a marvelous and joyous day, a day where families gather to enjoy one another, eat too much, and don’t have to work.  We have much to be thankful … Continue reading →

Wednesday, Nov. 26                          “Pride is a bad word.”  I made this hasty little notation a few days ago and thought it was a nice little proverb.  Pride is … Continue reading →

Tuesday, Nov. 25                              There’s a flip side to that “It’s OK to say ‘I don’t know.’”  Ignorance is acceptable; remaining ignorant is not.  I will never … Continue reading →

Monday, Nov. 24 I’ve never had the problem of thinking I know everything—and I doubt if any one out there is any different. No one expects me to detail the nuances of Einstein’s theory of relativity. The problem becomes acute … Continue reading →

Sunday, Nov. 23 There’s an important distinction between condemnation and rebuke. If I allow sin to block the movement of spiritual food to my soul, I’m in trouble. As a good doctor, God will do whatever it takes to find … Continue reading →

Saturday, Nov. 22 “Hunger for the Word increases when truth is applied.” The other side of the coin says “When truth is not applied, hunger for the Word dies out.” This could be called spiritual anorexia nervosa. For whatever reason … Continue reading →

Friday, Nov. 21 “The Bible causes you to fall in love with the author. You don’t fall in love by proxy.” –Howard Hendricks. Ideally, this is true, but I know I spent quite a long time studying the Bible as … Continue reading →

Thursday, Nov. 20 “The best argument for Christianity is Christians; the best argument against Christianity is Christians.” How true! Most Christians are Christians because someone demonstrated how God can change a bad life into a good life. From sinner to … Continue reading →

Wednesday, Nov. 19 “Friction is a sign of progress.” This statement has some merit, but it is not always true. Most of the time progress is made despite friction, sometimes a great deal of friction. This kind of friction motivates … Continue reading →

Tuesday, Nov. 18 Our church (cont.) We’ve now had more than a year to deal with the future of the church. We’re small and getting smaller. We are made up of mostly older people. And we are not doing too … Continue reading →

Monday, Nov. 17 “Varying views can lead to unity and wise decisions or to disunity and chaos.” This is very well illustrated in our church lately. We have been without a paid pastor for a year and a half and … Continue reading →

Sunday, Nov. 16 “There is no such thing as notoriety in the United States these days, let alone infamy. Celebrity is all.”—Christopher Hitchens, author and essayist. There is a bit of hyperbole here, but it’s a definitive statement as to … Continue reading →

Saturday, Nov. 15 Among other things, Christianity has a radically different definition for “pleasure” than the world holds. Unfortunately, not all Christians have a clear understanding of this. John Piper has been an immense help in focusing on this truth. … Continue reading →

Friday, Nov. 14 “The chief end of man is to glorify God BY enjoying Him forever.”—John Piper. How dare him! John Piper is audacious and fearless. How could he possibly suggest a change in the Westminster Confession of Faith, a … Continue reading →

Thursday, Nov. 13 Every day is loaded with decisions. Some are easy, some are not. Most of them are moral decisions, some of lesser importance, some more significant. We normally deal with these rather perfunctorily, giving little thought to the … Continue reading →

Wednesday, Nov. 12 “God is my boss.” That sounds a bit flippant, but to say He’s my Lord doesn’t carry the same punch, simply because we’ve let the real meaning of the word morph into something that carries little or … Continue reading →

Tuesday, Nov. 11 What is the first thing you think of when God is mentioned? His holiness? His caring for you? Heaven? His sovereignty? His love? His ability to answer your prayers? How you answer this probably depends on the … Continue reading →

Monday, Nov. 10 “We’re living in a different world.” How many times have you heard someone say that? Thinking about this led me to the conclusion that it is not accurate. The remark implies that things are more evil now … Continue reading →

Sunday, Nov. 9 As I was working in the yard the other day, it occurred to me that I was doing the kind of work that God gave Adam to do, tending the garden. I’m not sure what he did, … Continue reading →

Saturday, Nov. 8 Friends. In recent weeks, both Elizabeth and I have had some medical problems. The most critical one for me was when Elizabeth had a TIA. It shook me up a little. After we returned from the ER … Continue reading →

Friday, Nov. 7 God is our Heavenly Father. God speaks of the children of Israel as His children in the O.T. In like manner, believers in Christ in the N.T. are called babes, children and sons. Use of these words … Continue reading →

Thursday, Nov. 6 God is our Master—which makes us His servants. God is our master because He is our creator. He owns us. He can dictate every detail of life so that we have no choice. But that makes us … Continue reading →

Wednesday, Nov. 5 God is love. The fact that God is love is indisputable. The Bible emphatically makes that clear. In fact, the whole Bible reveals how much God is love. He loves us so much that He volunteered to … Continue reading →

Tuesday, Nov. 4 Our relationship with God affects everything in our Christian experience. John Piper’s view is that the core of our relationship is a loving one and that God’ highest concern is to be able to commune with us … Continue reading →

Monday, Nov. 3 The key to loving God is to discover how much He loves me. I’ve thought a lot about this lately. First and foremost I’m a sinner. Yes, I know that my sins are covered and removed forever, … Continue reading →

Sunday, Nov. 2 “Pleasure is the measure of your treasure.”—John Piper. This is kind of cute, but it’s also astute, and probably needs some explaining. Piper constantly talks about how our chief pleasure is God Himself. The treasure, of course, … Continue reading →

Saturday, Nov. 1 I mentioned a couple days ago that John Piper has focused on the importance of knowing God. Here’s how he applies that to challenging Christians about missions. “My general approach in challenging someone about missions is not … Continue reading →