From John Piper's Twitter

If you have no time for the Bible in the morning this motto might help: “No Bible, no breakfast.” It's not time. It's taste.

J. I. Packer on Wisdom

"To live wisely, you have to be clear-sighted and realistic-ruthlessly so-in looking at life as it is. Wisdom will not go with comforting illusions, false sentiment, or the use of rose-colored glasses. Most of us live in a dream world, with our heads in the clouds and our feet off the ground; we never see the world, and our lives in it, as they really are. This deep-seated, sin-bred unrealism is one reason why there is so little wisdom among us-even the soundest and most orthodox of us. It takes more than sound doctrine to cure us of unrealism" (pages 103-104).

"For the truth is that God in his wisdom, to make and keep us humble and to teach us to walk by faith, has hidden from us almost everything that we should like to know about the providential purposes which he is working out in the churches and in our own lives. 'As thou knowest not what is the way of the wind, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child; even so thou knowest not the work of God who doeth all' (Ecclesiastes 11:5, RV) (pages 106-107)."

"We can be sure that the God who made this marvelously complex world order, and who compassed the great redemption from Egypt, and who later compassed the even greater redemption from sin and Satan, knows what he is doing, and 'doeth all things well,' even if for the moment he hides his hands. We can trust him and rejoice in him, even when we cannot discern his path" (page 107).

From "Knowing God."

The Danger of Pharisaism

"Pharisaic religion doesn't just damage the inner soul, it also creates social strife. Pharisees need to shore up their sense of righteousness, so they despise and attack all who don't share their doctrinal beliefs and religious practices. Racism and cultural imperialism result. Churches that are filled with self-righteous, exclusive, insecure, angry, moralistic people are extremely unattractive. Their public pronouncements are often highly judgmental, while internally such churches experience many bitter conflicts, splits, and divisions. When one of their leaders has a moral lapse, the churches either rationalize it and denounce the leader's critics, or else they scapegoat him. Millions of people raised in or near these kinds of churches reject Christianity at an early age or in college largely because of their experience. For the rest of their lives, then, they are inoculated against Christianity. If you are a person who has been disillusioned bu such churches, anytime anyone recommends Christianity to you, you assume they are calling you to adopt 'religion.' Pharisees and their unattractive lives leave many people confused about the real nature of Christianity."

Tim Keller quoting Richard Lovelace in "The Reason for God."

From John Piper's Twitter

"A Christian's whole life should be nothing but a visible representation of Christ" -- Thomas Brooks

Eleven-year-old classical guitarist, Sungha Jung

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgVqX0a49HM

The Lord is My Shepherd

Human nature is never satisfied. We want more and more. No matter how much we have, contentment escapes us. It is only when we embrace Christ for all that he is, when we submit ourselves completely to him, when we put our very lives in his hands as our shepherd, that we come to the place where we find true satisfaction. Our desires are no longer for the things that we do not have in our possession but for the satisfaction of simply knowing Christ. He is our contentment.

Yahweh is my Shepherd

The personal name for God, Yahweh, is a term rooted in the Hebrew verb "to be," haya, and this name tells us two essential things about God's character: He is, and he is present. To better capture what this divine name means here, we could translate it literally "He Who is Here." Thus, the first clause says literally, "He Who is Here is my shepherd." This God is not elsewhere and otherwise engaged in bigger things. This Lord who is here, he is my shepherd.

Dorman Followwill, Discovery Papers, Psalm 23, Catalog No. 7120

The Cross and Christian Ministry

C.J. Mahaney posted the following excerpt from D. A. Carson's book, The Cross and Christian Ministry, on the Sovereign Grace Ministries blog:
Western evangelicalism tends to run through cycles of fads. At the moment, books are pouring off the presses telling us how to plan for success, how “vision” consists in clearly articulated “ministry goals,” how the knowledge of detailed profiles of our communities constitutes the key to successful outreach. I am not for a moment suggesting that there is nothing to be learned from such studies. But after a while one may perhaps be excused for marveling how many churches were planted by Paul and Whitefield and Wesley and Stanway and Judson without enjoying these advantages. Of course all of us need to understand the people to whom we minister, and all of us can benefit from small doses of such literature. But massive doses sooner or later dilute the gospel. Ever so subtly, we start to think that success more critically depends on thoughtful sociological analysis than on the gospel; Barna becomes more important than the Bible. We depend on plans, programs, vision statements—but somewhere along the way we have succumbed to the temptation to displace the foolishness of the cross with the wisdom of strategic planning.…Rather, I fear that the cross, without ever being disowned, is constantly in danger of being dismissed from the central place it must enjoy, by relatively peripheral insights that take on far too much weight. Whenever the periphery is in danger of displacing the center, we are not far removed from idolatry. (D. A. Carson, pp. 25–26)

Many of us have been taught that one must never question God. If we experience hardships and heartaches, trails and tribulations, we must simply take our Romans 8:28 pill and suck it up: And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28). Of course, the good is rarely alluded to, which is why I think it is a mistake to quote verse 28 without completing the thought in verses 29-30: For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified (Romans 8:29-30). In other words, the purpose of the “all things work for good” or the explanation of the “good” is that we might become more and more conformed to the image of God’s son, Jesus Christ. To question God is considered “off-limits.” To wonder why God is allowing this difficulty in my life is disrespectful, perhaps even blasphemous. The person who questions God, we are told, does not trust God.

Yet four times in our Psalm 13 David asks the question of God, “How long?” How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul
and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me (verses 1-2)?

At least eight other times throughout the psalms, God inspired the writer to record questions that began with “how long?” Numerous other questions are asked of God as to why it seemed as if God were absent from the affairs of his children. Chapter 10 begins with such a question: Why, O Lord, do you stand afar off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble (Psalm 10:1)?

We have often reassured ourselves with the promise that God will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5), but we have overlooked the fact that God may work in such a way in our lives that it will seem as if he has forsaken and forgotten us.

There are times when it seems as if God has withdrawn himself from us and we are left to struggle to find answers regarding his purposes and intentions in our lives. God does not explain everything to us, but he does communicate sufficiently enough so that we know that we can trust him, even in times of difficulty and doubt.

THE BIG PICTURE

Check out this blog for some incredible pictures: www.boston.com/bigpicture

I am a little partial to the Tour de France pictures.