Why Join a Local Church in College

Becoming a member of a local church is important. Occasionally I like to link to an article on the topic - mainly because it is such an important issue which is not often well understood. Here is an article at the Gospel Coalition site entitled "Fellow College Students, Please Join a Local Church." 

Below are his main points, but the whole thing is short and worth a read.

1. To be watched over by church leaders. “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account” (Heb. 13:17).
2. To be discipled by older church members. “Older women likewise are . . . to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled” (Titus 2:3–5).
3. To build up the church. “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:11–13).
4. To learn to love those Jesus loved. “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Eph. 5:25).

Resources for Studying the Bible: Arching & Tracing

I mentioned at Bible study last week two helpful methods for analyzing the connections between sentences, especially in passages that are teaching (rather than story). Though these principles work for that too.

Here is a link to John Piper describing "arching." You can see him doing something similar (more like what we are doing on Thursday nights though) in his "look at the book" series of videos. In these, he breaks down a passage while you watch (ie. does something similar to COMA).

"Tracing" is similar to arching, and is what I learned in seminary. Here is a link to information about that (this article is more technical and might take a lot of mental energy, but the payoff is well worth the investment). This is a very helpful thing to learn, especially if you plan to teach others in a more formal setting.

If you don't have time to pursue these avenues now, why not set a reminder to revisit them in the summer? And, why not check out the "look at the book" videos now? They are easy to watch and you will learn a lot about how to better study the Bible (hopefully Thursday nights are helping with this too).

"10 Sure Marks of Humility"

Humilty is one of those things we often see the need of but have trouble wrapping our mind around. Just saying, "I need to grow in humility," often does not translate to true growth in humility. I have found, in my life, that true, biblical change only occurs as I repent specifically rather than in generalities.

Tim Challies, a Christian blogger, recently went through the book A Godly Man's Picture, which is by the puritan Thomas Watson. He helpfully summarizes the main points of some sections, and one post summarizes some marks of humility. I list the headings below, and if you are looking to grow in humility, you might find it helpful to look at his article.

1. A humble person thinks little of himself. [though don't mistake this for self-pity which is a form of pride - see my post on self-pity here].
2. A humble person thinks better of others than of himself.
3. A humble person has a low assessment of his spiritual disciplines.
4. A humble person complains about his heart, not his circumstances.
5. A humble person praises God in times of trouble.
6. A humble person magnifies Christ.
7. A humble person accepts reproof for sin.
8. A humble person is content to be eclipsed by others.
9. A humble person accepts the condition God sees best for him.
10. A humble person will stoop to the lowest person and lowest tasks.

For more help in specifically fighting pride and growing in humility, you might find Stuart Scott's booklet "From Pride to Humility" helpful. He lists specific manifestations of pride and humility.