Heart of the Matter: Daily Reflections for Changing Hearts and Lives (FREE)
Change that goes deeper than the surface of our lives happens as we daily remember the truths of the gospel. Every day we need to be reminded that Jesus, God’s own Son, came to this world to save us from sin, sorrow, and death. We need to remember every day how Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, ascension, and promised return change the way we view ourselves and others. This devotional will be a daily reminder of these life-changing truths.
The 366 selections, anchored in Scripture and saturated with the gospel, will help the reader to:
- Learn how God in his Word addresses a host of life situations
- Focus on how the gospel intersects with life
- Look beyond circumstances to God’s purposes
- See how God values relationship and to learn to value it too by persisting, by speaking truth in love, and by not shying away from conflict
- Grow in wisdom when confronted by life’s changes.
- Learn that God works change that is effective and visible.
Topics covered in the devotional include: love, hope, grace, redemption, faith, contentment, conflict, relationships, prayer, fear, patience, humility, and anger.
How to Rapidly Improve your Writing and Preaching - If so, you’ll need to gather around you a diverse group of brutally honest folks who don’t mind giving you the one-two on a weekly basis. Let them beat the junk out of your content, and you’ll come away with a well-molded pot that’s the better for the beating.
Jonathan Edwards and Handling Controversy - In one public debate, however, Edwards raised the bar for how Christians during his time should engage each other. His principles can help Christian leaders and their followers today.
6 Reasons Not to Abandon Expository Preaching - Our aim is to take the sacred text, explain what it means, tie it to other scriptures so people can see the whole a little better, and apply it to life so it bites and heals, instructs, and edifies. What better way to accomplish this end than through expository preaching?
50 Incredibly Tough Books for Extreme Readers - Try it, if you dare.
10 Errors to Avoid When Talking about Sanctification and the Gospel - Sometimes the truth can be seen more clearly when we state its negation. So rather than stating what we should believe about sanctification, I’d like to explain what we should not believe or should not say.
Is All Sin Equal in God's Eyes? - It is a common question and the answer is of the variety that is always a little bit unsatisfying: It is one of those “yes and no” answers.
The Power of Introverts!
This was a better book than what I had expected. I first saw some rave reviews online for this particular book by Darrin Patrick when I was just released and I didn’t think much about it at that time. I thought that such a hype that soon would be over. However, after seeing there was a great kindle deal on this book, I thought why not read it myself, and boy did I enjoy reading this book.
This book is separated into 3 major portions, the man, the message and the mission. Simply put, it talks about who is the kind of person God calls to be a church planter, how should a church planter accomplish this task, and what is the church planter’s mission?
In the first part, Patrick goes to the focus of this book, the person himself, what kind of man should a church planter be? Patrick painstakingly goes through each characteristics of what kind of man God demands for this crucial task . I feel that this is the best part of the book, not only was this section thought provoking, it was meant for readers (who most likely are geared towards this direction) to search their hearts thoroughly before God. At the end of each chapter there are also many reflective questions which really helped me think through what I had learned from each chapter and examining my life based on what I've learnt.
The Need to Understand the Bible
Sproul first talks about 3 issues that he hopes to address within this series of podcast:
1) Neglect of content of scripture
2) Giving up of bible reading because of the difficulty involved in understanding
3) Major themes of the bible as hooks for understand of the bible as a whole
I agree with all his three points, I do think it occurs in the order of 2, 3 and then 1. I believe many new christians started to read the bible with fire and zeal but after hitting some difficult parts of the bible, they slowly give up reading because they feel that reading them does no good.
At least that's how I felt initially, this series thus is to help Christians to read their bible better, by exploring such hooks as guidelines to help them understand the major themes of (hopefully) each book of the bible.
Creation
Gen 1:1
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
Three things that ought to be noted here.
1) Beginning
This is the starting point of time and history and everything has to trace back to this. Christians do not believe myth of eternal recurrence/karma. But that it had a definite beginning.
Sproul then highlights that even science whilst not wanting to hold to the position of God being the Creator, has to acknowledge this point that this world had a beginning.
So how did it get started? There had to be an outside source, that scientist are bluffered, but christian are not, it's clearly stated, God started the act of creation.
Writing in Your Books - Here are five reasons I believe defacing an author’s work is warranted.
10 Love Challenge - Yesterday I gave my congregation 10 Love Challenges that
translate the sometimes nebulous idea of love into very practical,
do-able actions. In some ways each action might not seem very much; each
challenge has only one fairly quick and easy action per month.
Fellow Christians: I'm Rich and I'm Sorry - I need the new conversation about money. I need it, not only because I
am rich and feeling sorry, but because I believe—and the Bible
insists—that the much with which I've been entrusted has been meant for
good (2 Cor. 8:14).
Study Theology, Even If You Don't Believe in God - “theology is the closest thing we have at the moment to the kind of
general study of all aspects of human culture that was once very common,
but is now quite rare.” A good theologian, he says, “has to be a
historian, a philosopher, a linguist, a skillful interpreter of texts
both ancient and modern, and probably many other things besides.”
7 Things I Learned in 7 Years of Reading, Writing, and Living - Reflections on how to keep the center solid as you continue to evolve.
No One Is Having Sex on Their Wedding Night Anymore - Of course, the trend in couples living together (and having sex) before
getting married renders the wedding night sex thing a bit obsolete.
A New Perspective for Moms
I always enjoy any biography by Iain H. Murray, he has an eye to give a good biography, with warts and all, and he does so by highlighting their strengths and their weaknesses too. This biography on A. W. Pink is no different.
First Murray traces the history of Pink, how he grew up in a pious home, but became attracted to the occultist realm. He then traces how Pink was slowly advancing in the occult society until one night where Pink’s father, as his custom, waits for Pink to return and speaks some words or bible verses to Pink. That night, Pink was constantly interrupted by the very verse spoken by his father “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” (Proverbs 14:12). That marked the return of Pink to the faith. So real was his conversion that he took the pre-arranged appointment to speak at the occultist meeting to preach the gospel to the people gathered there.
6 Actions for Younger Women - 6 things on how to be a younger woman in today's context.
Challenges To The Christian Faith - So how should Christians respond to ideas which, if they were true,
might undermine our faith? Following are general suggestions we can
utilize when evaluating disturbing challenges.
Training Leaders and Teachers Who Understand “Gospel Centrality - But information alone doesn’t change us. Application alone doesn’t
change us. Only Jesus changes us. That’s why the information we present
needs to be connected to Christ. And the application we give needs to be
grounded in Christ’s work for us too.
How the Scandal of Preaching Will Reach Our Postmodern World - Of course, the first reaction to such an idea is, “Are you kidding?”
When faced with the challenges of postmodernity, do we really think the
solution is to stick some guy in front of the group and let him talk for
30 minutes? Wouldn’t a video be more effective? Or at least a
dialogue or panel discussion?
Different Types of Affairs - You can see that there are many variations on a theme. Each affair has
unique nuances that you don’t want to miss. Being a patient, good
listener will serve you and the couple well as you embody the grace of
Christ in these early stages of care.
Doug Phillips' Resignation - What a warning to us all, especially to those of us who have leadership
roles in the church, and especially in the areas we are strongest and
most vocal on.
Lies I told to become a spy - But lying to myself was the biggest betrayal of all. I make real-life
plans now, analyze career choices, and live with ordinary secrets. I
have no glamorous cover. I would probably pass the polygraph test if I
took it today.
The Failed War On Cancer
