On Sunday night I read a quote but didn’t mention who it came from. It is from pastor/author Tim Keller (The Reason for God).  Here it is again:

“…the Christian life is a process of renewing every dimension of our life - spiritual, psychological, corporate, social - by thinking, hoping, and living out the ‘lines’ or ramifications of the gospel. The gospel is to be applied to every area of thinking, feeling, relating, working and behaving.”

Here’s another quote from the same article:

“…we never ‘get beyond the gospel’ in our Christian life to something more advanced. The gospel is not the ‘first step’ in a ’stairway’ of truths, rather, it is more like the ‘hub’ in a ‘wheel’ of truth. The gospel is not just the A-B-C’s but the A to Z of Christianity.”

Here’s a link to the whole article (pdf file), The Centrality of the Gospel. I highly recommend it.

There are a few books that I think would be very helpful if you’re going through a spiritually arid time. The first, shockingly, is by John Piper, When I Don’t Desire God. This is a very practical book and easy to read. The last chapter, “When the darkness doesn’t lift’ is incredible, and every chapter is filled with great insight and practical advice. (more…)

On a Christian Worldview:

• Do Christians have a Worldview?, by Graham Cole.
• The Universe Next Door, James Sire.

On a Larger view of God:

• Knowing God, JI Packer
• One Thing, Sam Storms
• The Attributes of God, AW Tozer

One of the most painful parts of the week is uploading the sermon from Sunday night to the website. There’s just something real uncomfortable about having what you said preserved and made accessible that is disconcerting. Anyway, this week I am spared that discomfort as the message was not recorded from Sunday night.

I have been reading an awful lot on the Holy Spirit and, if your’e interested, here is a list of what I’ve been reading with some comments: (more…)

Someone asked me on Sunday night if I could recommend a few devotionals. I thought maybe, with Christmas coming and all, more people might be interested in some good devotional material, so here are a few I would recommend: (more…)

There are a few resources that I think may be helpful as you study the Book of Hebrews:

• biblecentre.net (this is a great site filled with quality commentaries. i would particularly recommend Types in Hebrews by Anderson, the commentary by Pink, the commentary in the Expositors Bible Series. if you really, really want to go deep, you can look at the commentary in the Word Commentary series or the seven volume commentary by John Owen!)
• desiringgod.org (this is the ministry of John Piper. the link here takes you right to a series of sermons on Hebrews)
• monergism.com (this is a massive site. this link takes you to some sermons on Hebrews. I would particularly recommend the sermons by Ligon Duncan and Mark Dever)
• firstpres, jackson (this is Ligon Duncan’s church. there is a wealth of resources. the link at the beginning of this paragraph is the site. This link right here is to a particular talk on the concept of covenant in the Book of Hebrews - an incredibly important concept)

I’ll post more good resources as I find them!

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I know summer is for sun, beaches and relaxing, but maybe it can be a good opporunity to grow in your understanding of God and His Word. There are so many good resources on the web to help with this. Here are two great resources that you can utilize:

1. Monergism Audio Resources - this site has links to all kinds of audio resources, including sermons, lectures, conferences, church classes. All of them are great (at least the ones I’ve listened to!).

2. Covenant Seminary Worldwide - this site is compliments of Covenant Seminary in St. Loius. It is the seminary of the Presbetyrian Church of America. The seminary is offereing a wide range of courses (usually consisting of twenty or more lectures) for free. Download and listen till your heart is content!

(more…)

I know summer is for sun, beaches and relaxing, but maybe it can be a good opporunity to grow in your understanding of God and His Word. There are so many good resources on the web to help with this. Here are two great resources that you can utilize:

1. Monergism Audio Resources - this site has links to all kinds of audio resources, including sermons, lectures, conferences, church classes. All of them are great (at least the ones I’ve listened to!).

2. Covenant Seminary Worldwide - this site is compliments of Covenant Seminary in St. Loius. It is the seminary of the Presbetyrian Church of America. The seminary is offereing a wide range of courses (usually consisting of twenty or more lectures) for free, though not for credit. Download and listen till your heart is content!

(more…)

Resources on life when God is your treasure (1.08.06)

• Confessions, by St. Augustine. Clearly this is a spiritual classic and well worth your reading.
  
• Pleasures Evermore , by Sam Storms. Sam Storm has quickly become one of my favorite authors. I would highly recommend this book.
• God is the Gospel, by John Piper. I just finished this book up a few weeks ago. It is God centered and beautiful.
• Seeing and Savoring Christ, by John Piper. This is a good book about the joys, and responsponsibility of savoring and delighting in Christ.
  

Resources on friendship/community (1.15.06)

• Life Together, Dietrich Bonhoeffer. This has become a classic. I read several quotes from the opening chapters.
• Pilgrims Progress, John Bunyan. This is a long standing classic. At one point, it was second only to the Bible in sales and had been translated into more languages than any other book except the Bible. It is a gem that I have read several times over.
• The Safest Place, Larry Crabb. Crabb is a counselor and this book casts a vision for community and what it could/should be.
• Created for Community, Stanley Grenz. I haven’t read much of this, though what I have read was excellent.

 Resources on dating/dtr (1.22.06)

• Decision Making and the Will of God, Garry Friesen. This is a massive book that gets redundant. However, the main point of the book is invaluable and in the later chapters he applies meticulously this principle to real decisions.
• Sex and the Supremacy of God, Piper and Taylor. This is a great book; however, I was very disappointed with the section on singleness and dating/courting.
• Boy Meets Girl, Joshua Harris. I think this book is far more balanced than I Kissed Dating Goodbye. I appreciate his contribution, though I don’t necessarily agree with him on everything.
• Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, Piper and Grudem. This is a huge collection of essays on everything from homosexuality to women’s roles in the church to gender issues, etc. It’s a great resource to have in your library.

 Resources on sex/good sex (1.29.06 & 2.04.06)

• Real Sex, Lauren Winner. This is a great book that I would like to make required reading for Christian men and women. Check it out.
• Sex and the Supremacy of Christ, John Piper. Already mentioned above. Most of the chapters are absolutely fantastic.
• Sex, Romance and the Glory of God, CJ Mahaney. Great, short, but mostly for married people.
• Strategies for Fighting Sexual Sin, John Piper on Desiring God website http://www.desiringgod.org.  Since it’s a webarticle and everyone can get it for free, I think everyone should!

 Resources on the church (2.12.06)

• Bob Whitaker’s Brain. Go ahead, pick it!
• Stop Dating the Church and Fall in Love with the Family of God, by Joshua Harris. This is a great remedy to our current church-shop-till-you-drop culture.

 Resources on Worship (2.19.06)

• Whatever Happened to Worship, AW Tozer. This is a great book which is actually a compilation of Tozer sermons on worship. Ask Paul Helms, he’s read it!
•  The End for Which God Created the World, Edwards/Piper. This is a very difficult book to get through, especially the Edwards sections (language and theology are difficult). That being said, it was an immensely rewarding book. Don’t shy away from difficult stuff.
• Worship by the Book, DA Carson. A book edited by my advisor in seminary. It’s a look at the theology of worship and how four churches apply this theology in their denominational and cultural contexts.
•  Unceasing Worship, Harold Best. I haven’t read to much of this yet. I started it for this message and haven’t gone to far with it, though it is on my ‘must-read-within-a-month’ list.
•  Worship God Series, John Piper on http://www.desiringgod.org. Any of these sermons are excellent to read or listen to.

Resources on Prayer (2.26.06)

• Face to Face, Ken Boa. This is a wonderful prayer guide that will aide you in learning how to pray with Scripture.
• Spirit of the Disciplines, Dallas Willard. This book, I think, is better than Foster’s book on the Disciplines.
• Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, Donald Whitney. This is a great general book on the disciplines (He spoke at the Piper conference on Edwards a couple of years ago).
• The Prayer of Jesus, Hank Hanegraaff. This is a short book on the Lord’s Prayer written in response to the unbalance book the Prayer of Jabez.