The Spirit prays for us. We do not know what to pray, nor necessarily to pray for that which we do not know what to pray for. Neither did we know how to pray, nor even how to pray for what we do not know to pray for, but our Lord has taught us. He did not merely teach us how to pray, but he has trained us in his own Spirit. It is the...
It has been said that we must perform at a certain velocity to achieve worth, success, and security. Many things have been promised to our generation, but it seems that only a select few have achieved them. We hold these success stories up as a championing call to work harder, be better, and to not stop until we become like them. Eleanor Robertson recently wrote about the contrasting self reflections between the Baby Boomer generation...
Mark Driscoll is trending again. This past week I read an interview transcript by John Piper on the subject of Mars Hill and Driscoll. I also read that Driscoll is beginning a new bible study series on Ecclesiastes that will be hosted on his website. I have often wanted to share my own experience at Mars Hill, and now I have the chance to do so. This is my personal story about Mars Hill. Just over 3...
It’s 12 am and you are preparing a sermon for tomorrow. It’s 4pm and you are preparing for community group that will take place in your living room in a few hours. You have reached an impasse. You could take the easy route and give that nicely packaged sermon or group discussion that you have memorized. You could also take the easy path and deliver that spiel that you know sounds nice, but you know...
This past week I had the opportunity to experience Hume Lake as a counselor. With nervous excitement, I made the almost 5 hour trip on a bus full of ecstatic kids aging from 4th grade to high school. I would be responsible for 11 high school guys who’s spiritual maturity ranged from agnostic to doubting christian. Some of them had grown up in church and had not yet made their faith their own, while others...
I became what some might call a Calvinist my junior year in High school. Going to a Dutch Reformed private school where I took a “Reformed Perspectives” class certainly aided this process. I had resisted of course. Coming from a Non-denominational Bible church, I had a gut reaction against such notions of predestination and all that depravity and sovereignty talk. However, the day came when my heart was changed and I suddenly found myself agreeing...
In his commentary on Amos, Hans Walter Wolff writes, …Amos with his message of judgement thrusts Israel back among the nations, there appears here a negative print of Pentecost. The wall between God’s people and the nations of the world is already being broken down. The Church will suffer damage if it does not allow to be utterly eradicated that sense of special privilege which, despite Amos, gained strength again in Israel. There are religious...
I have only been to an Anglican church service a handful of times, but some of the most profound experiences I’ve had in church took place during an Anglican service. The most recent was my experience this past January when I took communion from the common cup for the very first time. With words I have affirmed the unity of the body of church, with words I have confessed that there is one holy and...
Fullerton, CA The downtown area of this small Los Angeles suburb is home to over a dozen bars ranging from Mexican cantinas, Irish pubs and average American bars. Every Friday and Saturday evening, the streets swell with college students, business executives, the poor, the rich, and everyone in between. These bars are filled with these people who are much more interested in just crazy cocktails, boozy beverages, or getting hammered drunk. No, these people in these...
Here is no water but only rock Rock and no water and the sandy road The road winding above among the mountains Which are mountains of rock without water If there were water we should stop and drink Amongst the rock one cannot stop or think Sweat is dry and feet are in the sand If there were only water amongst the rock Dead mountain mouth of carious teeth that cannot spit Here one can...
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