Growing in Grace
Joyfully Finding Him Sufficient at Campus Baptist
Searching through 1 John!
Looking for fellowship? How can you get it? How do you know that you are part of the right group? The book of 1 John seeks to answer these questions!
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growing without fear
Posted on February 6th, 2010 No commentsGod uses his love to help us grow in confidence. Listen in!
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Desiring God’s Pastors Conference 2010
Posted on February 5th, 2010 No commentsDesiring God’s Pastor’s Conference was this week. Lee Abuhl was able to go, though I wasn’t. But I’m still benefiting from the audio, etc. from the sessions. I’d encourage you to do the same even if you’re not a pastor.
Desiring God 2010 Conference for Pastors2 Corinthians 1:23-24February 1, 2010Sam StormsDesiring God 2010 Conference for PastorsFebruary 1, 2010DG StaffDownload:The Role of Suffering in Sanctification
Desiring God 2010 Conference for Pastors2 Thessalonians 1:1-12February 2, 2010Eric MasonBiblical and Theological Foundations for Christian Hedonism: Seven Theses
Desiring God 2010 Conference for PastorsFebruary 2, 2010Sam StormsLessons from an Inconsolable Soul
Learning from the Mind and Heart of C. S. LewisFebruary 2, 2010John PiperThe Practical Sin-Killing Power of Christian Hedonism
Desiring God 2010 Conference for PastorsFebruary 2, 2010Sam StormsChristian Hedonism—The Missionary Advantage in Desiring God
Desiring God 2010 Conference for PastorsFebruary 3, 2010Bob BlincoeThe Pastor, the People, and the Pursuit of Joy, Q & A
Desiring God 2010 Conference for PastorsFebruary 3, 2010Various -
Sound Words: A Mess May Mean Success! « My Two Cents
Posted on January 27th, 2010 No commentsChris Anderson has some great words to share in this post about messy churches: Sound Words: A Mess May Mean Success! « My Two Cents.
Excerpts:
First, our churches must aim to reach the lost where they are.
I’ve been prone in the past to judge the effectiveness of a church by the condition of its attendees. If the people seemed to “have it all together” (e.g. they dressed up, had high standards, knew the Scriptures, etc.), I assumed the church was strong and effective. On the other hand, if the people had “issues” (e.g. they dressed immodestly or informally, were biblically illiterate, smelled of smoke, etc.), I assumed that the church was weak and ineffective.The truth is, my means of measuring a church’s effectiveness was simplistic, and perhaps downright backwards! If, for example, a church is filled only with people who “fit in” and have no problems (wink, wink), it may mean that they haven’t seen any conversions for many years! And if a church has down-and-outers, it may mean that they’re reaching their community for Christ—and they’re reaching lost people, not just families looking for strong churches! So a “mess” may mean “success”!
Think of it this way: a house that is perfectly clean is probably a house in which no babies reside. And a house strewn with toys and smelling of soiled diapers—as uncomfortable as it may be—is probably a house where there is new life! And that’s great! To put it the way Proverbs 14:4 does, “Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean, but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox.” Cleanliness and productivity are often incompatible. Ministry is messy!
And…
We mustn’t be more “righteous” than Christ (I speak as a fool). Jesus came not to call the (apparently) righteous, but sinners to repentance (Luke 5:32). So He ate with publicans. So He ministered to prostitutes and adulteresses. So He—to His eternal praise and our eternal salvation!—“received sinners” (Luke 15:2). Mere improvement of morals is worse than useless; it’s harmful!
Bottom line: Don’t help damn people through your efforts to improve them! They don’t need to be more respectable in their sinful condition—though such respectability may keep Christians from feeling squeamish. They need the gospel. They need to be born again. They need heart change that results in habit change, as do those of us who have been saved for decades.
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What God’s Love Does
Posted on January 26th, 2010 No commentsHow do we have assurance of what God is doing in our lives? It’s all about growing in God’s love… Listen in!
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Victorious Faith
Posted on January 19th, 2010 No commentsHow do we stand in the midst of so many differing viewpoints? Listen in!
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Social Justice: Definition
Posted on January 19th, 2010 No commentsKevin Deyoung has a helpful article on a definition of social justice. The term “social justice” is used a lot today and various meaning are attached. His main point is that we should be careful how we use it. Notice the key differences below:
In A Conflict of Visions, Thomas Sowell explains the difference between the constrained and unconstrained view of justice. In the unconstrained view justice is a result so that wherever people don’t get “their fair share” or don’t have as much as others there is injustice. If Goldingay is correct, most people assume this unconstrained view when they speak of social justice. For example, the RCA (my denomination) in one of its official study materials includes a glossary which defines justice as “The fair, moral, and impartial treatment of all persons, especially in law. Includes concepts of right relationships and equitable distribution of resources.” By this definition the inequality of opportunities, income, or outcomes is considered an injustice, a situation that in and of itself is sinful, implicates all (or most) of us in society, and demands immediate redress. In the unconstrained vision, the society has a lump of resources and if they are not shared roughly equally, then we do not have social justice.
In the constrained vision, by contrast, justice is a process where people are treated fairly (the first half of the RCA definition). The goal here is not forced redistribution; no one distributed the resources in the first place and no one is wise enough to allocate them for the good of everyone. Justice, in this vision, is upheld through the rule of law, a fair court system, and equitable treatment of all persons regardless of natural diversity. This doesn’t mean that in the constrained vision we shouldn’t care for the poor or that we simply shrug our shoulders and say “oh well” when we see people struggling through life with far fewer opportunities and resources than the rest of us. The Christian must be generous and should care about suffering and the disadvantaged. But in the constrained vision, this care is a matter of compassion, charity, and love, not automatically an issue of justice.
Kevin DeYoung: A Modest Proposal.
