Use Your Summer Well

Tim Challies has a good article by Peter Krol  entitled "3 Ways College Students Can Do More Better Through Finals Week and Into the Summer." I really enjoy reading what Tim has to say about productivity (he has a book on it which I have not read, but I have read many of his blog posts that formed the backbone of that book).

In this article, Krol applies his wisdom in this area to college students and young adults. Here are his three main points:

1. Make a List and Stick to It
2. Set Goals for the Summer
3. Create a Productivity System for Next School Year

My favorite part is in the set goals for the summer. His list several questions to ask yourself as you set goals:

• What parts of the Bible do you want to read for the first time or study more deeply?
• What books would you like to read? [Ben's note: Desiring God by John Piper. See you Thursday at our house for book club]
• What people would you like to meet with for outreach, encouragement, or discipleship?
• What would you like to learn, and from whom? How can you get yourself around people who live the kind of life you would like to live before Christ, so they can rub off on you?
• Where can you volunteer your time?
• How can you get more involved in your church?
• What other projects would encourage you?

I pray this summer would be one that serves to make you more like Christ. It won't happen without effort on your part though. 

"Isolation from the Church is Dangerous"

Here is a good article by Josh Buice on the dangers of becoming isolated from your church family. I know (most) of you reading this are involved in a local church and see it important. But, as he points out, we often don't go looking to isolate ourselves. It can often happen slowly, over time.

Here is one good quote,

We must learn to see the church as a blessing from God rather than an inconvenience.  We must never look at the church as a violation to our spiritual privacy fence.  We were never called to walk the journey of the Christian life alone.  Surround yourself with gospel preaching, gospel singing, and gospel friends who will be honest with you.  When the church is honest with you, receive it.  Take heed so that you will not fall (1 Cor. 10:12).  We all need the church. 

"Four Warnings for Your Twenties"

There is a good article at Desiring God by Marshall Segal entitled "Four Warnings for Your Twenties." He looks at 1 Corinthians 10:7-14 and notes what 20 somethings should learn from Israel's experiences in the Old Testament.

He writes,

"The same temptations that were murdering the believers under Moses are waging a spiritual war against believers today: entertainment, sexual immorality, impatience, and contentment. Paul finishes the paragraph by saying, “Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come” (1 Corinthians 10:11)."

Here are the four main headings of temptation he goes on to address from Israel's history:

1. Do you distract yourself with entertainment?
2. Are you experimenting with sexual sin?
3. Do you refuse to wait?
4. Are you always unhappy?

Take some time to read the article and learn from Israel.

For Those Discouraged in Evangelism, Jesus Saves (Not You)

Is there a friend or family member that you fear is beyond the gospel of salvation? Perhaps they are hostile towards Jesus or maybe they have made up a Jesus they are comfortable with (but one who cannot save them). Maybe they are so enslaved to their own passions and desires that it seems impossible that they will ever walk in the freedom of loving God.

It is easy to slip into this sort of thinking. For me it usually isn't an outright thought of giving up on them. But it often creeps in and then manifests itself in a weakening of my resolve to proclaim Christ, crucified and risen for sinners, to them.

Recently I found myself rebuked by Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones on this issue.  Here is what I read,

We tend to regard certain people as beyond hope, and assume that they must of necessity continue in their grooves as they are and die unrepentant and unredeemed. We just shake our heads over them and express our sorrow. We have talked to them and tried to persuade them. We have appealed to them and preached to them. Everything that human agency can possibly do has been tried and has failed. We cannot get them to come our way, so we feel that their case is hopeless and desperate. Ah! what a lack of faith all that reveals! How different from what we find here in the New Testament and always in the church during days of revival and true faith! If you and I are to save men and women, then indeed the case is hopeless. All our efforts will most certainly fail. But that is not our gospel. It is Jesus Christ who saves! There is no limit to what He can do! His methods are not confined as ours are.

Ian Murray's Biography of Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones, Volume 1, page 226.

Handling Criticism

Receiving criticism can be a painful thing in life. How might we receive criticism in a way that honors God?  To help us in this, I quote from Vaughn Roberts book True Friendship: Walking Shoulder to Shoulder:

• Expect it: given our sins and weaknesses, we should be surprised we receive so little criticism.
• Examine it: we should resist the instinctive temptation to defend ourselves or attack the critic, but rather consider whether there is truth in what is being said.
• Endure it: even when we feel it is unfair we must not be resentful.

How we handle criticism is a good barometer of our humility and wisdom. May God help us not be characterized by a fear others and their correction or a love of being in a state of perpetual anger.

"Why It Is Imperative That Presidents Be Pro-life"

Joe Carter has a helpful article on this issue at the Gospel Coalition.

1. Preserving the Pro-Life Riders 
2. Filing of Amicus Briefs in Cases Before the Judiciary 
3. Defending Pro-Life Laws in Federal Courts 
4. Issuance of Executive Orders 
5. Selection of Political Appointments
6. Using the ‘Bully Pulpit'

In the article he elaborates on each of those points. 

He concludes with these words

If we choose to vote, we Christians have an obligation to the most vulnerable members of our society to elect politicians who have both a robust view of human dignity and the temerity to govern accordingly. We betray this duty when we downplay the role the executive branch in advancing the pro-life cause.

While on the subject of presidents, it is time to vote if you are in Florida. Take time to know where the candidates stand on the issue of the value of life and then look at their positions on other issues.

"How to Slay the Dragon of Pornography"

Ed Welch has a good little article at the Gospel Coalition by this title. It is a good place to start if you or someone you know is tempted or sinning in the area of pornography. The article is also good in that it deals with how to battle temptation and sin in general.

Here is one great paragraph from the article,

When our temptations are especially strong, no rationale for those boundaries will be enough. For example, God has his reasons for limiting sexual expression to heterosexual covenant union, but those reasons won’t give us power to fight temptations. Power doesn’t come from mere knowledge; it comes as we grow in the knowledge of God and respond to him with obedient trust. It comes only as we discover that in God’s presence—not from what the world or fleshly pleasure can offer—do we find fullness of joy and pleasures that never lose their capacity to satisfy (Ps. 16:11).

For a more comprehensive resource on battling pornography I suggest Heath Lambert's book Finally Free: Fighting for Purity with the Power of Grace.