I was speaking with someone earlier this week about how time is neither friend nor foe. Time doesn’t care who you are. Time is equally distributed to each of us to use or to be used by. With that in mind, the writer of Ephesians says to his readers:

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil (Eph. 5:15-16).

All of us must examine our priorities when it comes to how we spend our time if we are to make the most of our days on earth. Our examination must also include the use of technology. Are we being …

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How many times have you seen a person make a decision based on an emotion or a feeling? How often were those decisions wrong? Whether it’s a person “falling in love” or the purchase of a lottery ticket due to a “hunch,” we are often seduced by our feelings. How does a person get off the merry-go-round of making emotional decisions? Do what Jesus did. Since Jesus was human and never made a bad decision, it makes sense to follow the pattern of His life.

First, consider the life-focus that Jesus had that served as a backdrop for all of His decisions:

“I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by Himself; he can only do what

…

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Check out our women’s ministry and Facebook page for the retreat promo video.

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In the teaching on Sunday, Jan.24.10 in a message entitled: Jesus, Just Hype or Incredibly Human; I made the point that the difference between Jesus and you is one word – “trust.” The following images are meant to display how Jesus displayed similar emotions and desires that all humans have. The difference is that Jesus’ emotions and desires are rooted in His trust in the Father while our emotions and desires are rooted in trust in ourselves. This is exactly why Jesus never sinned because He trusted in God and not Himself. This is exactly the opposite of what Adam and Eve did and every other human (other than Jesus) who has ever followed them….

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It says in Hebrews 2:14-15,18:

14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery… 18 For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

This section of Scripture conveys an extremely personal Jesus. A Jesus that is incredibly human. When it comes to the humanity of Jesus, we often buy the hype of a superman-like Jesus …

 

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Have you tried Twitter? Are you on Facebook?

The new world of status updates has its pros and cons. Brevity wins readers, but it’s hard to be concise and precise at the same time. Like Mark Twain said, “I didn’t have time to write you a short letter, so I wrote you a long one.”

But have you figured out how to gossip the Gospel 140 characters at a time? Consider:

We “need to write even more clearly and simply for the new media than for the old media.” How much more important is this when our subject matter is the gospel?

Combining brevity with gravity and levity with wit on Twitter and Facebook has been a challenge I’ve really enjoyed …

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Sunday (1.10.10), the first week of our “Personal Jesus” series, we laid out the ground-rules for considering the humanity of Jesus Christ. How do we keep the balance of the divinity of Jesus while at the same time not minimize the humanity of Jesus? Where is the dividing line? In order to give a solid, time-testing answer, I appealed to how the church solved this issue in the passed.

Wrong Answer #1
The Nestorian Heresy

The Council Nicea (in 325) had declared the church’s belief that God is one in essense and three in person, the “Trinity.” The next attack on the faith centered on the Person of Christ.
Nestorius became a religious leader (patriarch) of Constantinople in …

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The following question was a GraceTalk question that was left unanswered from the stage due to time constraints.

Q: In Genesis, God gave Abram (Abraham) the promise that his heirs would outnumber the sand of the sea and stars in the sky. Do you think that Jesus will come before or after that promise has been fulfilled? Have there been that many heirs to Abraham yet?

A: The promise made to Abram in Genesis 15:5 was made to show Abram the vast immeasurability of his offspring. Just as there, even to this day, is no way to accurately count either the number of stars in our sky or the grains of sand on the beach, so too …

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In our family, the new year provides a great time to set goals for the year. One of the goals our family has is to read through the Bible as a family this year. Whatever your plan, there are many tools to help you focus on planning, and reading God’s Word.

So as we begin the new year, I wanted to share some resources for reading through the Bible in 2010.

Grace Fellowship… of course

The Gospel Coalition

ESV

Ransom Fellowship

Crossway Books

Each of these plans have different ways to accomplish the same goal: intentionally planning to read God’s Word. Make reading God’s Word a priority in 2010.

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“Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.” (Ps 102:25)

“Let the heavens praise your wonders, O Lord…” (Ps 89:5)

“Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, you are very great! You are clothed with splendor and majesty, covering yourself with light as with a garment, stretching out the heavens like a tent.” (Ps 104:1-2).

“The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens! Who is like the Lord our God, who is seated on high, who looks far down on the heavens and the earth?” (Ps 113:4-6).

The new Wide Field Camera 3 aboard the NASA/ESA …

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