church planter’s wife • mom of 5 • thankful for grace • lover of books • formerly in publishing • Parakaleo trainer/trainee • NE Regional Advisor PCA Womens Min
God has "given us everything we need for a godly life," so when we feel like we're at the end of our rope, we can carry on. We can face life once more, with new courage and new hope, not because we're able, but because our God has provided mercies that are form-fit for each experience in a fallen world.
"Spiritual" and "abuse” are two words that should never go together. It’s a diabolical pairing. The Spirit of God hates abuse, uncovers abuse, and cares for the abused. Yet we often see spirituality used destructively against those made in God's image. The damage runs deep.
Malcolm Guite on LOTR and The Ring: “Tolkien knows almost all the great quest stories, from Jason and the Argonauts onward, are quests to acquire a treasure — to acquire the Golden Fleece, to sail off to the Garden of the Hesperides and obtain the golden apples, or, like Prometheus, to bring fire down from the heavens. They’re all about getting something valuable, bringing it back, and achieving power in kingdom by acquiring the valuable. Then Tolkien comes along. What does he give us? He gives us an epic of letting go — of renunciation. Was there ever an age that needed that message? We are, as that old book said, consuming ourselves to death. The sickness of our soul is precisely a sickness of perpetual acquisition, of pouring things into a hole that will never be filled. And the way out of that is the way of renunciation. It’s the way of letting go.”
God isn't content to leave you as simply forgiven; no, "he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6, ESV)
"The thing that gives us conviction of sin is not the number of sins we've committed. It is the sight of the holiness of God. It is light that reveals darkness. You don't do it by counting the darkness, as it were. It's the contrast of the light."
- Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
"The Spirit of Bondage (Remastered)" uploaded today: https://t.co/A3RPiPGWH3
It may feel risky to acknowledge what you see with your eyes and know in your gut—that the narcissists and incompetents have power only because they live in a bubble bouyed by sycophants—that the emperor has no clothes—but I promise, once you face it, you will not be alone.
Speaking truth is often considered a threat to the church. A mind-boggling reaction when God makes it very clear that the true church is to bring light *into* darkness. That means seeing what things really look like and calling them by their right name.
Did you know C.S. Lewis predicted the modern obsession with “being nice” would destroy the soul?
In The Abolition of Man, Lewis argues that when a society stops believing in objective virtue, it doesn’t become tolerant… it becomes manipulable.
He calls the result “men without chests.”
People with appetites and intellects, but no courage, no honor, no trained moral instincts. They can calculate everything and defend nothing.
Lewis saw that once we reject inherited moral law, we don’t become free. We become raw material… easily shaped by propaganda, pleasure, and fear.
Modern man prides himself on compassion while quietly surrendering every standard that once gave compassion meaning.
Lewis’s insight is brutal: a civilization that educates clever cowards will eventually be ruled by tyrants or technicians.
Because when nothing is worth dying for, everything becomes negotiable… including human dignity.
“Elders are shepherds, not shareholders. A shareholder walks into the meeting thinking, Now my work begins. But a shepherd walks out of the meeting thinking, Now my work begins.”
Great piece from Ryan Curia.
https://t.co/U21U4UmxAn
God’s purpose is not to build up spectacular ministries or display brilliant minds or articulate tongues or pleasing, arresting personalities. God’s purpose is to make us, you and me, like His Son. It is the only outcome that brings glory to the Father.
"You can't add to Christ without subtracting from Christ."-- This is the essence of Luther's theology and the essence of Calvin's Institutes. If you say "I have to add something to Christ for salvation" you diminish your understanding of the salvation Christ achieved.
One of the joys of Bible Study is discovering the web of connections between the Old Testament and the New Testament, especially when they help us to better understand the ministry of Jesus.
Here is one you may not have noticed.
In Bible in One Year, we read Mark 14 today. Jesus is praying in the Garden of Gethsemane on Passover night (Mark 14:32–42).
Three times, Jesus uses the language of watching.
1) He tells his disciples, “Remain here and watch” (14:34).
2) After finding them asleep, he asks, “Could you not watch one hour?” (14:37).
3) He urges them, “Watch and pray, that you may not enter into temptation” (14:38).
Watch, watch, watch.
This repeated emphasis on watching is not accidental. It reaches back to the institution of the Passover in Exodus. In Exodus 12:42, Passover is described in Hebrew as lēl šimmūrîm, “a night of watching” (Exod 12:42).
The phrase carries a twofold meaning. On that night, the Lord watches over Israel to redeem them from slavery. At the same time, the people of Israel are commanded to watch, to stay awake, and to remain alert for what the Lord is about to do for them.
Passover, then, is a night of watching.
On this Passover night in Gethsemane, Jesus calls his disciples to watch. Fittingly, they fail. They fall asleep.
Their inability to watch highlights a deeper truth. This redemption will not depend on their vigilance. It will rest entirely on the Lord.
Jesus alone will accomplish the true Passover redemption. He is the Passover Lamb who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29; 1 Cor 5:7). As his disciples sleep, he watches, prays, and submits himself to the Father’s will.
The Lord who once watched over Israel in Egypt now watches over his people by giving himself for them.
Gentleness will not come naturally to you. Sin has turned your heart into a wrecking ball. But remember, you're never alone. There's grace for your struggle. Jesus is with you, Jesus is for you, and Jesus is in you.
Jesus said, “Beware of the false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves” (Mt. 7:15). They look like the sheep category and behave like the wolf category. Their accurate or orthodox words ARE the sheep’s clothing.