The Freest People Are Servants of All
The Freest People Are Servants of All Written by John Piper. https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-freest-people-are-servants-of-all Read: Mark 9:30-50 The word simplistic exists because there are kinds of guidance and kinds of explanations that are too simple to account for the real complexities of life. They are simplistic. We don’t admire such counselors or preachers or teachers. They just don’t seem to be living in the real world where things are often very messy. In all my reading of Paul over the years, he has never struck me as simplistic. A good example is the way he deals with our submission to authority in this world, and
Help My Unbelief
Written by John Piper. https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/help-my-unbelief Read: Mark 9:2-29 [The Dwell App has a variety of voices and background music selections to aid you in listening to the scriptures (we have a 60 day free trial for NWers)! Click HERE to sign up.] For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. (Romans 12:3) In the context of this verse, Paul is concerned that people were thinking of themselves “more highly than
The Covenant Prayer
This past Sunday (7/19/20) we closed our service by praying this prayer together. It was originally included in the Covenant Renewal Service crafted by John Wesley way back in 1755. But he attributes the prayer to puritan Richard Alleine who lived in the 1600’s! So believing folks have been praying this prayer for nearly 400 years! When I pray this prayer, it helps me re-order my life around my great King Jesus and his will for me. It helps protect me from the folly of getting that backwards - of trying to re-order the world around me and my desires! I hope it serve you
4 Reasons to Wear a Mask, Even if You Hate It
I know what you might be thinking: “Just what I need; another article about coronavirus and face masks.” For many of us, talking with other people about wearing masks has become wearisome and even annoying at times. If you line up ten different people, you might get ten different answers to the question, “How do you feel about wearing a face mask?” There are many who have written about this topic from scientific or political perspectives. I recently came across this article by author Brett McCracken that offers some encouragement for us Christians who may not be too excited about
The Shocking Words of Christ
By Jimmy Agan. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/the-shocking-words-of-christ/ Read: Mark 7:24-37 [The Dwell App has a variety of voices and background music selections to aid you in listening to the scriptures (we have a 60 day free trial for NWers)! Click HERE to sign up.] It is often said—and rightly so—that Jesus is the hero of every text of Scripture. Yet when we first encounter him in Matthew 15:26, Jesus looks anything but heroic. Instead, it appears that he is failing to be missional, and being entirely rude in the process. Consider the context:[1] Jesus, in “the district of Tyre and Sidon” (Matt. 15:21), is approached by “a
The Making of a Modern Pharisee
By Marshall Segal. https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-making-of-a-modern-pharisee Read: Mark 7:1-23 [The Dwell App has a variety of voices and background music selections to aid you in listening to the scriptures (we have a 60 day free trial for NWers)! Click HERE to sign up.] We are all born legalists, but we are made into Pharisees. Spurgeon once preached, “Beloved, the legalist [in us] is a great deal older than the Christian. If I were a legalist today, I should be some fifteen or sixteen years older than I am as a Christian; for we are all born legalists.” We are all born believing we can earn and
A Prayer To Turn My Back on Evil and Be Allowed to Fight Injustice
A prayer to repent of my own sin, to turn my back on corruption in my land, and to be equipped to fight evil.
Christ the Warrior in Prayer
By R.C. Sproul. https://www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/prayer-life-jesus/ Read: Mark 6:45-56 [The Dwell App has a variety of voices and background music selections to aid you in listening to the scriptures (we have a 60 day free trial for NWers)! Click HERE to sign up.] We are accustomed to understanding the shepherding language in Scripture in warm, pastoral terms of comfort. Certainly, that is appropriate, since the Bible often uses shepherding imagery in such a way (for example, Ps. 23). However, the language of shepherd and sheep also appears in reference to military leaders. It is applied to Assyrian generals in Nahum 3:18. Ezekiel 37:24 likens the
Rest, Play and the Good Life
This past Sunday (06/14/20) I alluded to a short 10 minute “TED talk” concerning Rest that I gave a couple of years ago at SEBTS. Here’s the link to that talk. I hope it’s an encouragement to you as you respond to Jesus’ invitation to find rest. - even rest for your souls. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTZfbrlUBWs
God Feeds His People…Again
Adapted from The ESV Gospel Transformation Bible, (C) 2013 Read: Mark 6:6-44 The Dwell App has a variety of voices and background music selections to aid you in listening to the scriptures (we have a 60 day free trial for NWers)! Click HERE to sign up. The feeding of the 5,000 (see also Mark 8:1-10) is a reminder of when God miraculously fed Israel in the desert centuries earlier (Ex 16:31; Deut. 8:16). The same God who provided for Israel is now providing for the needs of this hungry crowd through his Son. God always provides what is best for his eternal purposes, and
