Tag: Spiritual Formation
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10 Building Blocks for On-going Discipleship
by Stephen Smallman I went away with our elders for a time apart to re-examine our priorities as a church. The word “discipleship” started as one of many things on a “to do” list, and the more we talked and prayed, the more that word pushed its way to the top of the list. That…
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Living Dangerously
One of the dangers of [obedience based Christianity] is that it can lead people to think God owes them a reward for their obedience. Their perspective in life is: ‘If I do certain things, I expect God to come through for me’. And when He doesn’t, they think: What’s wrong? Why isn’t He doing something…
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Brokeness, Contrition, and Repentance = Marks of a Growing Christian
“So Repentance begins with an attitude of brokenness over our sin. But true repentance will be followed by an earnest desire and a sincere effort to put away the sin we are repenting of – to put on the Christlike virtues that we see missing in our lives. These efforts often seem to be characterized…
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Looking Heaven-ward
“There are two methods which the Lord graciously adopts, in order to draw our heart away from this present world: The first is by setting before it the attractiveness and stability of “things above:” The second is, by faithfully declaring the evanescent [temporary] and shakable nature of ‘things of earth.’ … Now it is much…
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12 Signs of a Transformed Life
What does a life transformed by the gospel look like? Well, in some ways that might depend upon what it looked like before gospel impact. Yet, Gordon MacDonald took a stab at describing a transformed life in an excellent article for Leadership Journal. Below are the 12 marks MacDonald identifies: Has an undiluted devotion to Jesus…
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Schaeffer’s Theorem
Francis Schaeffer was a prophetic voice to Christianity for the latter half of the 20th Century. His treatises such as Mark of the Christian and Two Contents, Two Realities were excellent primers for Gospel-Centered & Missional Christianity long before either Gospel-Centered or Missional were coined terms. The premise behind his philosophy has been has been…
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Fear, Worry, and Our Sovereign God
In preparation for a message on Psalm 27, I began reading Ed Welch‘s book, Running Scared. Penetrating. Convicting. Comforting. All of those words are appropriate, at least for me. For as I have aged I have come to see how fear, often very subtle, effects my thought, actions, and reactions. My fears may not show,…
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Broken-Down House: Living Productively in a World Gone Bad
I began reading Paul Tripp’s Broken Down House earlier this week. I had read it before, or rather I should say I skimmed it before, but did not take the time to allow Tripp’s poignant insights to resonate in my soul. I raced through it last time, getting the general gist, but not digesting much…
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How to Spend a Day With God
Richard Baxter wrote: A holy life is inclined to be made easier when we know the usual sequence and method of our duties – with everything falling into its proper place. In other words, our souls flourish most vibrantly when there is a natural rythm to our lives. These rythms include our daily and weekly routines and…
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Centering Our Lives On Something
“Since we are made to worship, we are always centering our lives on something whether we realize it or not. It is like a fire hose that is stuck in the ‘on’ position and shooting water out endlessly with great force. We must decide where we aim the hose as the focus of our worship.…
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5 Life Changing Gospel Perspectives
There are 5 perspectives from the gospel that, when embraced and frequently pondered, shape lives: The need to recognize that God calls for ongoing and continual growth and change in all of us. The need to understand the extent and gravity of our sin. The need to understand that the heart is central; that behavior…
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Our Part in Practicing the Presence of God
Here is a thought worthy to ponder, and a discipline worthy to practice, excerpted from Dallas Willard‘s The Great Omission: Our part in practicing the presence of God is to direct and redirect our minds constantly to him. In the early times of our practicing, we may well be challenged by our burdensome habits of…
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Idolotry pt 2 – C.J. Mahaney
As a follow up to some recent posts, one in particular, Disinfecting Ourselves of Spiritual Malware, I thought this video by C.J. Mahaney would be helpful and challenging. This is part 2 of 2.
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Idolotry pt 1 – C.J. Mahaney
As a follow up to some recent posts, one in particular, Disinfecting Ourselves of Spiritual Malware, I thought this video by C.J. Mahaney would be helpful and challenging. This is part 1 of 2.
