Here and Now

I have been making a push since the start of the year for the members of our congregation to get into the Word this year more than in the past, and for all of us to step up our prayer game, as well.  But I realized today that there is an inherent danger in pushing this too hard, and that it isn't enough to just encourage people to read their Bible and pray.  People need to do it for the right reason.  And constant prompting, regardless of how loving, without emphasizing the reason for it can lead people down a bad road of feelings of inadequacy and guilt. Now, please don't get me wrong.  God wants us reading His Word and He wants us to pray, and it isn't possible to do either too much, if you ask me.  But He isn't keeping score .  We cannot have the idea that we need to get in our Bibles a minimum amount so we can cross the threshold from "God wants me in the Word more" to "God is pleased with how much I read today."  And the same is true for praye

I thought it would be fun to share with you some of what I read this week.  I follow a whole lotta blogs, and I find that they not only give me great sermon material (quotes, illustrations), and they not only keep me informed about what is going on in the world from a Christian perspective, but I am really edified and encouraged by many of them. So check these out and enjoy! Check out Sammy Adebiyi's blog about surrendering to God here And Joe Carter's exploration of whether or not the now legal in some states use of marijuana is sinful here And Steven Dunn's cumulative case for the existence of God here And Ray Ortlund's discussion of four different types of speech Christians should concern themselves with here And an excerpt from a new commentary on the book of Obadiah here

I love the Psalms.  Perhaps as a songwriter myself, I am touched by the overwhelming emotion that the writers of the Psalms pour into their songs which, in turn, pour out to me as I read them.  As I read some Psalms the other night, I came to Psalm 78.  Of course, the initial thought when someone comes to this Psalm is probably "this thing is three pages long!".  That's okay.  Nobody minds when a good song is long, do they?  (Freebird!) The Psalm begins by stating its purpose: to pass along to the next generation the history of what YHWH has done as given to the Psalmist by the previous generation.  In particular, the "glorious deeds"  and the "wonders" God had performed on behalf of His people. Then: 65 verses that detail, in a very honest way, the struggle that has continued since Adam and Eve ate the fruit in the Garden.  Not the struggle between good and evil (especially since God doesn't see that as much of a struggle). Not the struggle be

I have noticed on the Christian blogosphere that many a blogger is offering Bible reading plans for the year.  It is, after all, the time for resolutions (see last week's post here ) and there is no time like the present for committing to reading the Bible.  There are plans for reading through the whole Bible in a year, plans for reading the Bible through in 90 days, plans that focus on the New Testament and Psalms, chronological plans, topical plans, all kinds of plans for all kinds of people. So, I want to offer my Bible reading plan.  Ready?  Here it is: pickup your Bible and read it.  I know, I know, it isn't very sophisticated.  And I can't offer you a pretty printable chart that shows each day's reading for the days ahead, and I can't tell you exactly when you will get through the entire Bible, and there is no checklist for you to get through as you finish chapters and books.  Because I don't want you to just get through the Bible in 90 days or a year or