HARMLESS THOUGHTS

This is how the Philippian church begins - with a Jewish fashionista businesswoman, a demon-possessed slave girl, and a blue-collar ex-GI duty bound to the Roman Empire. Probably not exactly your dream church-planting team, but the Spirit works in strange ways to utterly redeem the unlikeliest and most diverse people. We see in the backstory of Acts 16 the beautiful reconciliation that the gospel achieves, not just of unholy individuals to a holy God but superficially incompatible people to each other! Jesus takes strangers and makes them family. ~ Matt Chandler in To Live Is Christ to Die Is Gain   Even though we don't have any fashionistas, demon-possessed slave girls, or Roman Empire jail guards, this quote reminded me of my church .

I was sitting at the dining room table this morning, attempting to work on some words to say at a funeral service later today. I was having trouble collecting my thoughts, so I turned to my Bible reading for the day, and I was ready for Exodus chapter 4. Here is what I read: But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.” Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.”  (Exodus 4:10-12, ESV) I don't know about you, but this happens more often than not. I have opened my Bible numerous times in my life, only to find myself reading the exact thing that I need to hear. Today it was a reminder that eloquence is from the Lord .

I just finished listening to a book called Why Cities Matter .  Near the end of the book there is a quote for an ancient letter to someone named Diognetus that is defending / explaining Christianity. In this letter, Christians are referred to as the "Soul of the City". As I listened to the way this letter describes Christians, I can't help but ask if this description would work for Christians today. But then I had to dig a bit deeper. I googled this letter so I could read this description again, and I found myself asking if this could apply to the Christians in my city... Asking this question in this way could leave me a bit pompous though. Especially if I satisfied myself by thinking that I fit this description better than other Christians in this city. So, I had to ignore everyone else for a moment and simply ask, "Do I fit into this description? ... Am I in some way a part of the Soul of the City?" I would like to encourage you to ask this question of y...

The ESV Hear the Word Audio Bible is currently free at ChristianAudio.com. I know that many of us have different apps and other options where we can listen to the Bible for free, but this is a nice opportunity to download the entire thing to have for keeps. Here is a link to go directly to the Christian Audio page for the free download. http://christianaudio.com/free/ This will only be free until the end of January.

I just devoured a book. The book is called  Encounters with Jesus: Unexpected Answers to Life's Biggest Questions  by Timothy Keller and it was just great!  It is a series of encounters with different people taken from the life of Jesus. It includes such interactions as with the Woman at the Well and the nighttime meeting with Nicodemus. Many of these interactions come from the Gospel According to John, which is also helpful for the current series that we are going through at Edgewood Baptist Church . My absolute favorite chapter in this book was called The Two Advocates . It is about a discussion that Jesus has with his disciples near the end of his earthly life. In that discussion, which occurred during the Last Supper, Jesus gives some incredible insight into His own relationship with the Father and with His people. He also introduces us to the Spirit of God as "another comforter" as the King James Version states it. Keller's explanation of the Spirit as a se...

I am about two thirds of the way through the book Encounters with Jesus: Unexpected Answers to Life's Biggest Questions  by Timothy Keller. I normally try to wait until I finish a book and then just give a nice little review, but this section I just read in the chapter "The Two Advocates" is well worth mentioning on its own. This portion that I have included parallels some thoughts that I have also had, but as is the case with an exceptionally talented author, Timothy Keller has phrased it much better than I ever could have. I know this is a long quote, but it is worth it. In the early days after becoming a Christian, I first heard of this idea that Jesus Christ somehow "intercedes" for me before the Father. I got this out of the book of Hebrews, where Jesus is depicted as our great high priest who stands before the Father for us, as priests in the Old Testament did for the people. When I first heard the idea of Jesus Christ representing me before the Fath...

The Gospel Focus of Charles Spurgeon (Long Line of Godly Men Profiles)  is the second book that I have read by Steven J. Lawson. The first one was The Expository Genius of John Calvin , which you can find my review of by clicking here . When I was younger, reading biographies was not all that important to me. I enjoyed fiction, most specifically, science fiction and fantasy.  But as I have "aged" biographies, especially those focused on prominent people in church history, have begun to draw my attention and have brought me great encouragement. And Steven J. Lawson does an amazing job of bringing these individuals to life through his knowledge and study and by focusing on essential details and aspects of their lives. In this book about Charles Spurgeon, I have used the "highlight" feature on my kindle more than any other book that I have read. Nearly every page had some quote from Spurgeon that I found either encouraging, thought provoking, or convicting. The ...

Otherworld: A Novel by Jared C. Wilson snagged my attention and kept it until the end. I was originally drawn to this book because of the author. I knew of  Jared C. Wilson  because he is a Pastor and an author or other gospel-focused books. When I saw that he had written an novel, I was immediately interested. Not too long after I had heard about this book, it showed up on the list of free kindle books on Amazon for a short time, so I snatched it up. I have to say, this book has everything. UFO's, the occult, cops, shootings, heartfelt introspective thoughts, a love story, a newspaper man, the newspaper man's boss, demons, professors, lunatics, dead bodies, pastors, cow mutilations, the grassy knoll, the gospel, and an exorcism... and somehow it all makes sense. The main character of the book is the newspaper man, but he also focuses on a young Pastor, an old Cop, who is a prayer warrior, a cantankerous old farmer, and a crazy evil kid. While writing an interestin...

Does God Listen to Rap? Christians and the World's Most Controversial Music by Curtis Allen was a very interesting book.  Once I picked this book up, I devoured it... At 110 pages, I still had it read by the next day. The topic itself, though there are many on both sides of the argument that would agree requires conversation, is usually approached poorly. For myself, I have no patience, whether in book or in blog post or in person, for those who simply want to air their opinions. No offense, but I don't have time for most opinions, not even my own.  I want truth, and when it comes to God and what He wants, I want the truth from scripture. I liked this book because Curtis Allen, as best as I believe anyone could, comes to the table with this truth. To approach this topic from a Biblical perspective, since the Bible doesn't actually talk about Rap (or any musical style for that matter), the author also describes a correct method to handling and applying scripture to vari...

In the book, Encounters with Jesus by Timothy Keller, there is a great quote concerning our propensity to worship things. The quote comes from a commencement speech given at Kenyon College by an American writer named David Foster Wallace. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And the compelling reason for maybe choosing some sort of god ... to worship ... is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive. If you worship money and things, if they are where you tap real meaning in life, then you will never have enough. It's the truth. Worship your own body and beauty and sexual allure, and you will always feel ugly. And when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before [your loved ones] finally plant you ... Worship power, and you will end up feeling weak and afraid, and you will need ever more power over others to numb you to your own fear. Worship your intellect, being seen as smart, you will end up feeling stupid, a fra...