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Bits & Pieces (8/8/12)

  • Nurturing Faith – “Susanna Wesley was a woman her husband called the best of mothers. Hopeful that her children would come to know and love the Christ she loved, Susanna reserved a specific day and time each week to sit and discuss matters of God and things on their hearts. The time spent together was cherished by all, such that many continued the discussions with their mother well into adulthood through letter-writing. “


  • Fighting with God in Sanctification – “Here’s the key. Fighting sin is not God-against-us. Fighting sin is ultimately God’s battle, a battle that we have been caught up into. We fight with God in sanctification because no one is more engaged in our holiness than God is. No one cares more about our personal holiness than God does, a point made obvious by the fact that the Holy Spirit dwells within us.”



  • 4 Disturbing Trends in the Contemporary Church – “According to several studies, American evangelicals generally do not know what they believe and why they believe it. Consequently, most share with the wider culture a confidence in human goodness and a weak view of the need for God’s saving grace in Jesus Christ. According to these reports, most evangelicals believe that we are saved by being good and that there are many ways of salvation apart from explicit faith in Jesus Christ.”


  • 8 Differences Between High School and College – As a college professor, I found this to be a generally good summation of the differences between high school and college. If you or someone you know is making that transition this year, this is worth the read.
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Uncategorized

Bits & Pieces (8/7/12)

  • The Gift of the Will – “Our ability to exercise our wills for good depends in large part on remembering that human beings have been given great gifts. Perhaps this is part of the message to glean from the parable of the talents that Jesus spoke to his followers long ago. Those who recognized the gifts they had been given went out and used them, thus increasing their impact and gaining more.”

 

  • What I’ve Learned Along the Way – Tim Challies writes about preaching for the non-preacher and reminds us of some things we should remember when interacting with our pastor.

 

 

  • Five Great Mysteries of the Christian Faith – “Are there more than these? Most certainly. But in theology, these are the biggies. These are the big pieces of our puzzle that are missing. Why are they missing? I don’t know. I just know they are. God chose not to tell us. I will ask him when I get there. But I will try to trust him until then. After all, don’t I have to borrow from his morality in order to judge him for leaving the puzzle unsolved? I think I will pass on that.” (H/T)


  • And Especially Hope – “When it comes down to it, hope is what most of us are desperate for in our lives. We need something to look forward to, something to keep us from despair in the midst of all of the pain and difficulty we experience and see around us.”
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