Choose You this Day, Whom You Will Serve.

There is a ridiculous notion in many young peoples' heads that goes like this: 'If I were a Christian I'd have to do exactly what the Bible says, when and how it says to do it. That's way too restricting. I want to be free - free to do what my lusts tell me to do, when and how they tell me to do it.'

Oh, is that it means to be free?

Freedom is not possible for human beings. We were created as servants and to rebel is only to switch masters. All people exist either as slaves to God or sin. There is no third option. There are no spiritual free agents. But equality also does not apply to our possible masters either. The One is far more to be desired than any other. In our age of independence and egalitarianism, we must be sure to pay a special heed to passages like the one below.

"Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness."

-Romans 6.16-18

Fathers and Sons

"In 15 years I have spoken with hundreds of homosexual men. I have never met one who said he had a loving, respectful relationship with his father."

-Dr Joseph Nicholas

Boys to Men

Nothing shapes a young man’s character like blisters on the hands.

-Dave Buehner [co-host of Generations w/ Kevin Swanson, on broadcast “Perpetual Boyhood”]

The Therapeutic Non-Gospel

We live in therapeutic times. We want comfort for being losers instead of forgiveness for being sinners. And we need forgiveness for being sinners; we have way too much comfort for being losers. This is because true forgiveness always brings other transformative things in its train while therapeutic comfort leaves us right where we were: comfy in our sins.

-D. Wilson [excerpt from The Gospel and Your Family, from The Blenheim Lectures]

A Quality Education

If our children know Saxon Math and Geography better than they know the book of Proverbs, we have given our children a substandard education!

-Kevin Swanson

Book List [what I've been reading these days] ...

YOU ARE WHAT YOUR MIND EATS ...

Baxter on Accountability

Take heed to yourself also because there are many eyes on you. As you have engaged to be the light of the world in the church, you must expect that men's eyes will be upon you. Although other men may sin without observation, you cannot. You should thankfully consider what a great mercy it is that you have so many eyes to watch over you; so many ready to tell you of your faults. For by these, you have greater help than others do. For these eyes restrain you from sin. Even though some may watch you maliciously yet you have the advantage.

-Richard Baxter [excerpt from The Reformed Pastor]

A Biblical Sermon Length

Hebrews is probably the only instance in the Bible of a sermon delivered to Christians. All the sermons in Acts are delivered to unbelievers or a mixture. But here we have a sermon because it is called a ‘word of exhortation’ which is identical to what the synagogue leaders asked Paul to deliver after the text had been read in the synagogue. He calls it a brief word – takes about 50 minutes to read this book out loud – so a 50-minute sermon is brief by 1st century standards. That may be why we’re returning to those in so many fruitful, Biblical churches today instead of these silly, little things.

-John Piper [excerpt from his T4G sermon]

Book List [what I've been reading these days] ...

YOU ARE WHAT YOUR BRAIN EATS ...

De Profundis [#3]

People find it hard to believe that a good God would plan for us to endure difficulty. They are shocked by the trials they face and conclude that God must not be Who they thought He was. And the fact of the matter is, He might not be Who they thought He was – He is better.

-Brent Brewer [one of my pastors]