Kevin DeYoung:

Until we are content with being one of the million nameless, faceless church members and not the next globe-trotting rock star, we aren’t ready to be a part of the church. In the grand scheme of things, most of us are going to be more of an Ampliatus (Rom. 16:8) or Phlegon (v. 14) than an apostle Paul. And maybe that’s why so many Christians are getting tired of the church. We haven’t learned how to be part of the crowd. We haven’t learned to be ordinary. Our jobs are often mundane. Our devotional times often seem like a waste. Church services are often forgettable. That’s life. We drive to the same places, go through the same routines

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The role of psychology in the church is a challenging subject since there are things within the discipline of psychology that have proven very helpful to some people. With this being said, I lean on people who have made counseling their life’s work in order to gain my footing on the subject. Some of these people would be counselors such as David Powlison and Ed Welch from CCEF. I particularly love the vision they have for restoring Christ-centered counseling to the church. However, that is another subject for another time…

Psychology has no ability or inclination to deal with the spiritual motivations of the heart. Even many contemporary Christian psychology models (hence the …

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The Power – The Power is the next book from Rhonda Byrne whose book The Secret was massively popular.

Multiple-Choice Question
This video teaches that:
A. All of us can change the world by tapping into the power that is within us.
B. Disbelief of the power you have inside you will hold you back from fulfilling your purpose.
C. Everything you need can be found inside of you and this is true for all living things in the world.

Answer given after video.

Answer: All of the above.

This is one slick ad and we must be prepared to help people process the truth-claims that this …

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A caller to the Stand To Reason radio program Sunday, who ran out of time before he got on the air, asked a very good question. Since Prop. 8 sought to clarify the definition of marriage and the judge struck it down, did he replace it with a new definition? What is the definition of marriage now in California? Is there one?

While the ruling declared that the definition California has used since the beginning of statehood was unconstitutional, did it put a new definition in place? A definition is merely a description or limitation of what a marriage is. Is there any limitation, albeit a newly expanded?

Certainly, the judge’s ruling made definition …

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Christopher Hitchens, noted atheist and writer par excellence, has cancer.

“In whatever kind of a ‘race’ life may be, I have very abruptly become a finalist,” the ever-articulate Hitchens writes in the September issue of Vanity Fair. He concludes:

Against me is the blind, emotionless alien, cheered on by some who have long wished me ill. But on the side of my continued life is a group of brilliant and selfless physicians plus an astonishing number of prayer groups. On both of these I hope to write next time if—as my father invariably said—I am spared.

His essay is a mix of stoicism and dry British wit, but with an understated gravity

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A church committee has asked the General Synod of Australia’s Anglican Church to adopt a statement calling for citizens to have fewer children, recommending that the government cut childbirth incentives to new parents and instead offer incentives for parents to have fewer children. The country is on track for overpopulation, the church warned, which could break the eighth commandment by stealing resources from future generations. Do Christians have a special responsibility to have children?

Read the entire article from Christianity Today.

How might you answer these types of social issues in light of the command for the followers of God to “multiple and fill the earth.”

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Angola State Penitentiary in Louisianan was know as the bloodiest prison in the United States. The prison is the largest maximum security prison in the United States with 5,000 inmates and 1,800 staff members. It sits on 18,000 acres and surrounded on three sides by the Mississippi River. Now, with the visionary leadership of Burl Cain things are different. There is now a Bible College and multiple ministries in which men are becoming disciples of Jesus Christ. One expression of God’s grace at Angola is a program called Malachi 4:6 Dads. The video tells the story.

Join me …

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LONDON — A huge ball of brightly burning gas drifting through a neighboring galaxy may be the heaviest star ever discovered — hundreds of times more massive than the sun, scientists said Wednesday after working out its weight for the first time.

Those behind the find say the star, called R136a1, may once have weighed as much as 320 solar masses. Astrophysicist Paul Crowther said the obese star — twice as heavy as any previously discovered — has already slimmed down considerably over its lifetime. In fact, it’s burning itself off with such intensity that it shines at nearly 10 million times the luminosity of the sun.

The heavens …

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On Sunday, in the first part I taught on the responsibilities (see the teaching guide) that Christians have in contributing to God’s ecosystem, the Church. I made the following points:

People “Go Green” when they take personal responsibility to:

A. Actively listening and applying God’s Word to your life.

B. Commit to being personally accountable to someone for their spiritual development.

C. Have an active ministry among those in our Fellowship.

D. Express accountability in church membership.

E. Regularly communicate the Gospel to yourself and to others in our Fellowship.

In speaking to these responsibilities, I mentioned certain ideas on how to begin to implement them.

In reference to point “A” I commended to you the Word …

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We are about to do something drastic and rare in human history. This document sets forth our justification to the world. The Laws of Nature created by Nature’s God give any people the right to undo political ties binding them to another nation, and to take their own separate place among earthly powers as full equals. This is the case because the Creator made every person equal, and gave certain permanent rights to them all. These include the rights to live, to be free, and to pursue happiness. All this is so obviously true that it needs no proof. The reason for government is to make these rights secure. The only rightful power a government has is power that the …

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