The Necessity of Prayer
On the one hand, the man who is rightly instructed in the true faith sees very clearly how very poor he is, how totally bereft of all that is good, and how he lacks any possibility at all of saving himself. Hence, if he wants to find a source of help for his beggary, he must go out of himself and look for it elsewhere.
On the other hand, he contemplates the Lord who generously and willingly offers himself in Jesus Christ and, in Christ, opens to him all the heavenly treasures. The Lord does this so that the whole of man’s faith may apply itself to looking at this beloved Son, that all he expects may depend on this Son, and that all his hope should be built on, and rooted in, this Son.
Therefore a man must turn to God in order to ask from him, by prayer, what he has learned to be in him.
To know that God is the Lord, to know that everything good comes from him, to know that he invites us to ask him for what we need, and yet not to call on him and pray to him, is like knowing of a treasure hidden in the earth and, through indifference, to leave it there, without taking the trouble to dig it up.
- Calvin from “Truth For All Time”
Looking over my message for tomorrow one last time. Speaking from Philippians 2:19-30 on “Traces of the Gospel” in the lives of Timothy, Epaphroditus, Paul and the Philippians. Grateful for this passage this week, it reaffirmed the power of the gospel and also the inspiration of “all” scripture as Paul’s travelogs aren’t always the sexiest passages to preach from. Also pondering the weight of preaching God’s word to His people…
Thankful for the opportunity to speak to Countryside/Missio Dei and humbled that God has placed me here for His purposes.
Okay, so I know that everyone has heard of and visited www.peopleofwalmart.com, but I was thinking about starting carsofwalmart.com…
I taught the very first Equip Session for my CSM (countryside student ministry) leaders tonight. We introduced a 3 year study plan that will take us through areas of systematic theology, hermeneutics, apologetics, counseling and Keller. Our first session dealt with the common religion among U.S. teens and adults, something Christian Smith calls “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism”. Smith’s research in this area is extremely helpful and caused a lot of discussion among our team. I’m excited to see the fruit that will come from this commitment to study together and our new passion to challenge this religion in our students.
My lil’ Anna baby with a sweet off-centered mohawk…all natural.
I took the picture and then messed with it in Photoshop mobile, but I have no idea what looks good. I could use a little help with determining what’s cool and what ain’t.
Though I don’t really like hockey and have never really been even a casual fan, the Blackhawks have been winning my heart over. The games are filled with drama and I find myself looking forward to the next time they play, but…with the White Sox off to a slow start (and it not looking like they’ll recover) and the Bulls finishing a disappointing season (though hoping it’s not a disappointing off-season) I am shifting my (sports) heart’s hopes and anticipation to football season…DA BEARS!
We are going to take it back to ‘85 this year with a monstrous defense and enough offense to win it all. Bear Down, people!
We are finally getting a little interest in our house. We had an open house last week, a showing today and possibly another this week. I gave an entire year of my life over to remodeling this place and my hope is that they will fall in love with it once they see it up close…big yard, big garage, new exterior, completely remodeled on the inside with nice warm colors, floors and custom cabinets. We’re throwing in the appliances as well. Everything is new and the location is great (just minutes from I-65 and great eating and shopping). For those of you willing, please pray that God would sell this house while our offer on a house in Valpo is still valid.
These are the moms in my life and I would be a total bum if I were without them in my life. God, thank you for the good gift of moms and thank you for these three in particular.
I know P90x is getting a lot of attention right now, but I thought that I might be able to interest you all in a slightly less intense, much holier way to workout.
This was handed to me after I spoke at a Saturday night gathering. The hair line is perfect and the sweat coming off of the the head is spot on…but am I this angry looking when I speak?! And were you even paying attention?!
I thought I might add that I am loving Tumblr. A big thank you to Josh Marvel (pushingfaders.com) for turning me on.
