Books I Want to Read in 2012

Reformation: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow by Carl Trueman (reading right now)

Magnifying God in Christ by Tom Schreiner

Paul, Apostle of God’s Glory in Christ: A Pauline Theology by Tom Schreiner

Grow in Grace by Sinclair Ferguson

The Life and Diary of David Brainerd by Jonathan Edwards

If You Bite & Devour One Another by Alexander Strauch

What is a Healthy Church Member by Thabiti Anyabwile

The Greatness of the Kingdom by Alva McClain

Knowing God by J. I. Packer

The Original 13 – A Documentary History of Religion in America’s First Thirteen States by William Federer

The Conversations of Jesus by Simon Kistemaker

Passing the Baton: A handbook of Ministry Apprenticeship by Colin Marshall

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7 Reasons to Preach Expositionally

1.   Exalts the sufficiency of the word of God, that all of God’s word is profitable

2.  Allows for the entire counsel of God to be preached, which we are commanded to do

3.  Forces the preacher to deal with every portion of scripture, even the most difficult portions

4.  Helps the people to see scripture interpreting scripture

5.  Allows the Spirit to use the word to convict rather than man’s ideas and opinions

6.  Keeps the preacher from meandering in his preaching

7.  Forces the people and the preacher to be subject to the truth and conviction of scripture

 

Rising Early

“And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.”  Mark 1:35

Let’s pattern our prayer life after our Lord and let this be our sincere prayer:

“With my soul I have desired You in the night, Yes, by my spirit within me I will seek You early.” Isaiah 26:8-9

 

Can Praying Help?

2 Corinthians 1:11

“You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.”

You also must help us by prayer

Have you ever thought that your prayers actually help others?  Paul says clearly in 2 Corinthians 1:11 that your prayers do help.  The prayers of the Corinthians even helped an Apostle during his ministry!  How much more can our prayers help others today.

Keep in mind, your prayers do actually help accomplish God’s will for the church and its mission.  Yes, we embrace that God is sovereign and that he will accomplish his plan (Daniel 4:35), but God also says that our prayers are part of this process and actually help.

Sometimes your prayers may seem to only hit the ceiling, if they actually get to the ceiling!  That may be your feelings at times.  But know that each prayer is heard by God.  And not only does God hear your prayers, he uses them to accomplish his will in others’ lives.  Praying for others actually helps them in their walk and ministry.

Let’s pray more for others today!

 

Heart Work Before Prayer Work

Prayer is very important.  We need to talk to God.  We need to converse with him.  We should converse with God on a regular basis.  Today’s prayers are not enough for tomorrow’s needs.

Even though prayer is an important means of grace, like Bible reading and public worship, there is an important step in our daily practices that we can tend to often neglect.  That step is self examination.

We must daily examine our hearts to see it’s state.  We must look in every room and even under every rock of our thoughts to find what our affections are tied too.  What matters to you this morning?  Where do your thoughts quickly run?

We must examine our love for sin.  Do we cling to sin in some fashion?  We must examine our love, or lack thereof, for God.  Is there any sin we have not confessed?  Is there any sin we are cherishing today?  Do we think often of our blessed Savior?

Proverbs 4:23 says “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.”

Do you keep your heart with all vigilance?  Do you realize the impact of a heart unkept?

If we don’t do this, our prayer life will eventually escape us.  We must examine our hearts each day before or during our time in prayer.   If we fail to do this, our prayers will be lost.

A. W. Pink says it best:

“It was because the heart was neglected that you got so little from attending to the means of grace!  What a difference there is between a deeply exercised and spiritually burdened heart pouring out itself before God in fervent supplication and the utterance of verbal petitions by rote!  It is the difference between reality and formality.  He who is diligent in heart work and perceives the state of his own soul is at no loss in knowing what to ask God for.  The formalist has to rack his mind and, as it were, laboriously pump up something to say unto God; but he who makes conscience of heart work finds his soul like a bottle of new wine – ready to burst, giving vent to sorrow or joy as his case may be.”

 

God’s City on a Hill

“A church that follows the biblical pattern in preaching, worship, and fellowship will be fruitful in outreach and evangelism.  The Bible says relatively little about the evangelistic efforts of average Christians during the age of the apostles.  It is not hard to guess what they did, however.  For them evangelism was not so much a special event or a practiced method as it was an integral part of their overall life as a church.  They invited their friends and family members to hear the apostles preach. They shared with neighbors in need. As they had opportunity, they testified to their own personal faith in Jesus Christ. They engaged their community mind to mind, heart to heart, and life to life.  Their God-centered way of living inevitably had a way of point people to Christ.  People outside the church looked up on the hill and saw God’s city.  And as they experienced the attractive power of authentic Christian community, many of them accepted Jesus as their Savior and Lord.”

–Philip Ryken, City on a Hill, pp. 29-30

 

Paul’s prayer for the Colossians

And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking:

That you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.  – Colossians 1:9-10