I’ve been skimming through Google Reader this morning and have come across more than one post that has impacted me. Here are the three that really challenged me today.
from Swerve…
In addition to emailing this list to everyone in my family, I printed it out to carry with me. Read through each questions slowly and think about each one.
- What did I learn in God’s word this week?
- Is my burden for prayer growing or diminishing?
- Does my heart break for the things that break the heart of God?
- Have I grown accustomed to or accepted sin in my life?
- Am I doing ministry out of an overflow of God’s work in my heart or out of my own strength?
- Has my teaching and ministry deepened, changed, or evolved in a positive way in the last year?
- Do I have a sincere peace that I’m living an authentic life of spiritual integrity?
- Is my heart growing larger for people and God or is it shrinking?
- Am I closer to God today than I was a year ago?
- Do others comment that they can clearly see evidence of God’s work in my life?
from Family Reformation…
I recently received the following comment from someone with a different take on the future of the Church. They wrote…
I think abortion is clearly a sign of the End Times. Rather than try to fight it and stop the coming Rapture, I encourage it! To do anything to stop the coming Apocalypse is a sin against God.
This was one of the most frightening proclamations I have ever seen. Using this logic, we should not only encourage abortion, but other forms of murder as well. What about adultery, rape, and theft? Perhaps we should all vote for Obama, praying that he is the “anti-Christ.”
This is nonsense. But what troubled me most was that this proclamation was made by someone claiming Christ.
Read the rest of the post here.
From Desiring God…
One of the most moving books I have read about the history of modern missions is The St. Andrews Seven, by Stuart Piggin and John Roxborogh. It tells the story of how the life and teaching of Thomas Chalmers at the University of St. Andrews inspired six of his best students in the 1820’s to radical missionary commitment which resulted in 141 years of combined service on the missions field.
One of the most brilliant of these young students died while he was still 18. Already his memoirs filled two volumes. He said in one of his addresses to the mission society at the university:
We know of no office in the Church of God where the very highest mental attainments can be more beneficially employed, than in the office, all despised as it is, of the Christian missionary. (p.53)
The reason I mention this book is that it illustrates historically what I am trying to bear witness to in my life and church, namely, that a vision and zeal for missions can and should flow down from a vision of the greatness of God and his grand design for the world…
Read the entire post here, or follow the link to hear John Piper giving this talk on March 30, 2008 at the Don’t Waste Your Life College Event in San Luis Obispo, CA.
