God uses ordinary people

Dr. John MacArthur discusses his book, Twelve Unlikely Heroes: How God Commissioned Unexpected People in the Bible and What He Wants to Do with You (Nelson, 2012), with Alex Crain here.

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A unique way of seeing the Lord’s Prayer

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What $5 will get you today? (Friday only)

$5 will get you some pretty good products from Ligonier Ministries–today only, Nov 30th! Click here.

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Great suggestion regarding tolerance and intolerance

If you’re placed in a situation where you suspect your convictions will be labeled intolerant, bigoted, narrow-minded, and judgmental, turn the tables.  When someone asks for your personal views about a moral issue—homosexuality, for example—preface your remarks with a question.

You say:  “You know, this is actually a very personal question you’re asking, and I’d be glad to answer.  But before I do, I want to know if you consider yourself a tolerant person or an intolerant person.  Is it safe to give my opinion, or are you going to judge me for my point of view?  Do you respect diverse ideas, or do you condemn others for convictions that differ from yours?”  Let them answer.  If they say they’re tolerant (which they probably will), then when you give your point of view it’s going to be very difficult for them to call you intolerant or judgmental without looking guilty, too.

This response capitalizes on the fact that there’s no morally neutral ground.  Everybody has a point of view they think is right and everybody judges at some point or another.  The Christian gets pigeon-holed as the judgmental one, but everyone else is judging, too.  It’s an inescapable consequence of believing in any kind of morality.

—Greg Koukl

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In Christ alone

From 52home:

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Heart idols

Idolatry is “when we act as if something below God could make us happy without God, or that God cannot make us happy without the addition of something else.”–Stephen Charnock

“What does it mean that anything is the lord of our life?  Just this: Whatever controls us is lord.  The person who seeks acceptance is controlled by the people he or she  wants to please.  We do not control ourselves.  We are controlled by the lord of our life.  If Jesus is our Lord, then he is the one who controls; he has the ultimate power.”–Rebecca Pippert

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C. J. Mahaney’s manly book recommendations for Christmas

Looking for a good read for men? C. J. continues his yearly tradition of  suggesting some good reads (mostly non-Christian history or sport books) for men.  Buy one for the man or men in your life.

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God’s mysterious and wonderful ways

“The Puritan writings on providence are easy to read, yet they are deeply thought provoking. They are biblically focused, yet they throb with a sense of God’s ongoing activity. They are rigorously Reformed, yet they are wonderfully sensitive to human pain. They were written for people living in a time of social, political, and religious upheaval in the seventeenth century. They were written for people who knew a great deal of the angst that we moderns often mistakenly view as peculiarly modern or even postmodern. The Puritan writings also apply to people in the twenty-first century who suffer massive change. More than that, they spell out clearly some biblical principles that Christians today desperately need to hear:

• God is in control of His universe.
• God is working out His perfect purposes, also in my life.
• God is not my servant.
• God’s ways are far more mysterious and wonderful than I can understand.
• God is always good; I can always trust Him.
• God’s timetable is not the same as mine.
• God is far more interested in what I become than in what I do.
• Freedom from suffering is not promised in the Christian gospel.
• Suffering is an integral part of the Christian life.
• God works through suffering to fulfill His purposes in me.
• God’s purposes, not mine, are what bring Him glory.
• God enables me to read His providences through the lens of His Word.
• I have few greater pleasures than tracing the wonders of God’s ways.

No wonder, then, that Sedgwick admonishes us with the words of Psalm 37:5: “Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.” The God of the Bible, the God of sovereign providence, He alone is worthy of such trust.”

Beeke, Joel R.; Jones, Mark (2012-10-14). A Puritan Theology: Doctrine for Life (Kindle Location 6876-6894).  Kindle Edition.

HT: The Works of God

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Why did God take away my dream?

John Piper answers a question which a couple recently asked–a question I’m sure some of us have asked before because none of our lives have turned out exactly the way we thought they would.

Click here to hear Piper, Nancy Guthrie and Greg Lucas weigh in on this question.

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A free song featuring thousands of pastors

Desiring God:

If you want ten thousand male voices, it will sound a lot like the new album, Together for the Gospel Live II. The album releases today, and the tracks were recorded during musical worship at the T4G gathering in April (and some from the 2010 gathering).

To mark the release of the album, our friends at Sovereign Grace Music have given us permission to offer track 12 — “All I Have Is Christ” — as a free download to our blog readers. Click here  to listen or to download this song!

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