Here’s a thought-provoking quote from Todd Gitlin, author of Media Unlimited. In just a few words he shows the emptiness of the pursuit of more and the emptiness of the promise of consumerism. But mostly this quote revolves around the amazing phrase, “broken promises ever renewed.” [T]he Great Depression was a turning point, frightening workers…
Yesterday I shared a quote from Tim Chester’s book A Meal with Jesus. At the risk of offending the publisher (or the author) I would like to share another one. This one speaks about the value of recapturing our dependence upon God for our daily bread–something that is difficult in a Walmart world. Eating is…
Without the gospel everything is useless and vain; without the gospel we are not Christians; without the gospel all riches is poverty, all wisdom folly before God; strength is weakness, and all the justice of man is under the condemnation of God. But by the knowledge of the gospel we are made children of God,…
Over the weekend I have been reading Vance Christie’s account of the life of Hudson Taylor (Hudson Taylor: Gospel Pioneer to China). This is, to my recollection, the first biography of Taylor I have ever read. Missionary biographies always give me a lot to consider and this one has been no exception. As with so…
The holiness of God is his glory and crown. It is the blessedness of his nature. It renders him glorious in himself, and glorious to his creatures. “Holy” is more fixed as an epithet to his name than any other. This is his greatest title of honor. He is pure and unmixed light, free from…
There has been lots to learn in reading Iain Murray’s soon-to-be-released biography of John MacArthur. A couple of days ago I read the chapter that looks at MacArthur’s wife, Patricia. Here Murray turns to John Watson and Charles Spurgeon as they speak of the value of a godly wife in the ministry of a pastor.…
I found the following quote on Paul Martin’s blog. Paul is my colleague at Grace Fellowship Church so I’m sure he won’t mind if I “borrow” this quote. After all, I read this commentary long before he did. This comes from Richard Phillips’ commentary on Hebrews. And more precisely, it comes from Phillips comments on…
I bookmarked this a while back and for some reason forgot to post it. It’s well worth a read. Walt Mueller writes a brief review of Tim Chester’s book Closing the Window: Steps to Living Porn Free and then says this: Chester offers up five key ingredients that must be present and in place for…
As I was studying this week, in preparation for the sermon I preached this morning, I came across some interesting quotes from John MacArthur. MacArthur has been preaching about Genesis 3:16 and the consequence of the woman’s sin. And along the way he pauses to celebrate the impact of godly mothers. This seemed rather appropriate…
The following quote comes from the pen of Horatius Bonar (1808 – 1889), the great Scottish preacher, poet, author and hymn writer (and probably other stuff too). It talks about the true nature of belief in God. Read it and then take a couple of minutes to ponder it. In all unbelief there are these…
I continue to read Russell Moore’s book Tempted and Tried. And it continues to give me a lot to think about (which may be a bit of an understatement). I really found this section worth pondering–a section that speaks of the allure and satanic triumph of pornography. In our time pornography has become the destroying…
I had something queued up to post this afternoon. But then I read some blogs and found “A Prayer of Great Joy for Easter Sunday” by Scotty Smith. I took the liberty of copying and pasting it. It is a prayer of celebration, on this, the day we remember and celebrate the Lord’s resurrection. Christ…
I have been reading Russell Moore’s new book Tempted and Tried: Temptation and the Triumph of Christ and came across a quote–a question–that had the rough spiritual effect of cracking me over the head with a 2 x 4. As you no doubt gleaned from the title, this is a book about temptation, the forms…
Resisting Consumeristic Temptations: How’s that for a snooty title for an article? But the article itself is not so snooty. I’ve been reading John Temple’s little book Family Money Matters and found a handy list of ways to resist the temptations of living in our high-pressure world of advertising and consumerism. It seemed worth sharing.…
A couple of years ago I read Warren Wiersbe’s book 50 People Every Christian Should Know and marked a couple of paragraphs that I thought would prove worth sharing. These words come from a chapter devoted to Alexander Whyte. Here they are: The sales manager of a successful Christian publishing house tells me that pastors…
I’ve felt myself drawn to this prayer written by Scotty Smith, a prayer that asks God to help our friends finish well in the gospel–to help us all remain faithful until Today becomes the Day. It begins with this passage of Scripture: See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart…
If God be our Father, let us imitate him. The child not only bears his father’s image, but imitates him in his speech, gesture and behaviour. If God be our Father, let us imitate him. ‘Be ye followers of God, as dear children.’ Eph 5: 1. Imitate God in forgiving injuries. ‘I have blotted out,…
Here’s a prayer from Scotty Smith, one that really helped me this morning. In it Scotty looks at Psalm 42, where a deer pants for water, and asks God to help us long for him the way David did. As he says, “Thirst will not be denied. We’ll do almost anything to satisfy our thirst.”…
Here is a new/old hymn that you may not be familiar with. It was recently introduced at church and has quickly become one of my favorites. Written by Horatius Bonar, it was recorded last year by Sandra McCracken on her album In Feast or Fallow. God forbid that I should glory,Save in the Redeemer’s cross.Counting…
As I mentioned a couple of days ago, I have the privilege of preaching at Grace Fellowship Church this morning. I awoke feeling tired and worn, believing that fatigue is God’s means of rebuking me, of calling me to depend on him instead of myself. So I turned to the Valley of Vision, looking for…