Praying the Bible

This past Sunday night, during our time of praying together as a church, we prayed through the first few verses of Psalm 103 (which, by the way, was the fighter verse / memory verse for last week...I hope you are trying to memorize Scripture with me this year).

Here are three resources on praying the Bible to help you in your personal times of prayer and in praying in groups.

• John Piper just did an "Ask Pastor John" podcast on how he prays the Bible (about 11 min. long).
• Here is a longer (80 minute) video by Don Whitney on praying the Bible (he did this at our Bible conference a year ago). You can get audio from here.
• Also, Don Whitney has a book on praying the Bible. 

On the topic of praying together, Megan Hill has a book that Beth has told me is encouraging on praying together (it is a fairly short read). 

I hope to see you on Sunday nights for our time of praying as a church family (it is ok if you don't know how to "pray the Bible.")

"If We Are so Burdened then Why Aren't the Prayer Meetings Full?"

A good quote from Erik Raymond to encourage us to not simply be distressed about the problems we see, but to turn our distress into prayer.

If we are so exercised by injustice and depravity, why don’t Christians flood to church prayer meetings to gather with their brothers and sisters and plead with God in prayer? Why aren’t prayer meetings overflowing with burdened and broken people who want God to intervene and act?

We will have a great opportunity to pray together this Sunday night. Join us at 5pm on Sunday to discuss the sermon and pray.

"More Than Hashtags: Fight for Human Dignity"

I thought this article was a good one from the Gospel Coalition. Below is a quote - I hope you can read at the whole thing. He goes on to give 5 things we can do.

We work for justice, the unborn, the immigrant, the refugee, and the forgotten—not because it will catapult us to greatness or out of some misguided sense of guilt, but because we’re bringing the good news of God’s kingdom to bear on the world.

"Pride Poisons Ethnic Harmony"

A good (4 min) video from a sermon by John Piper on how the gospel's pride killing nature is necessary to dealing with racial tensions. His main point begins around the 1:40 mark.



May our church be one marked by the humility of the gospel and a growing diversity which proves to the watching world that the gospel is the power of God of reconciliation to him and to one another.

"Love and the 'Piece of Paper'"

I thought this quote from Tim Keller's book The Meaning of Marriage (pg. 79-80), was very insightful.

I remember some years ago watching a television drama in which a man and a woman who were living together were having and argument over whether to get married. He wanted to go ahead and do it, but she did not. At one point she blew up and said, "Why do we need a piece of paper in order to love one another? I don't need a piece of paper to love you! It only complicates things." 

That statement stuck with me, because as a pastor in New York City, I have heard essentially the same thing from younger adults for years. When the woman said, "I don't need a piece of paper to love you," she was using a very specific definition of "love." She was assuming that love is, in its essence, a particular kind of feeling. She was saying, "I feel romantic passion for you, and the piece of paper doesn't enhance that at all, and it may hurt it." She was measuring love mainly by how emotionally desirous she was for his affection. And she was right that the marital legal "piece of paper" would do little or nothing directly to add to the feeling. 

But when the Bible speaks of love, it measures it primarily not by how much you want to receive but by how much you are willing to give of yourself to someone. How much are you willing to lose for the sake of the person? How much of your freedom are you willing to forsake? How much of your precious time, emotion, and resources are you willing to invest in this person? And for that, the marriage vow is not just helpful but it is even a test. In so many cases, when one person says to another, "I love you, but let's not ruin it by getting married," that person really means, "I don't love you enough to close off all my options. I don't love you enough to give myself to you that thoroughly." 

Memorize Scripture with Me in 2017

If you are like me, you are not strong in the area of memorizing Scripture. I think part of that is a lack of planning and encouragement. So, I'd like to plan to memorize Scripture in 2017. If you would like to join me, we can encourage one another in it too!

The Plan

My plan is to use the "Fighter Verses" app from Desiring God. The website for fighter verses is here, and it has links to find the Android or iPhone apps. The app does cost about $3 if you want it (I like it because it can display the verse on my home screen).

Each week, there is a new verse to memorize. The app allows you to do some memory quizzes on the verse, to listen to the verse, and provides links to articles about the verse from Desiring God (helping you to meditate on its meaning an application).

My plan is to spend some time each day reading / reciting the verse (maybe read / recite it 10 times each day). By the end of each week I hope to be reciting from memory more than reading the verse.

Encouragement

Each week we can work on memorizing the new verse(s) and encourage one another by sharing what we are learning as we think about its meaning and how it applies to us.

If we discipline ourselves to do this, we will have 52 passages memorized by this time next year!

Will you join me? Let me know if you decide to join in so we can encourage one another this year.

This week's verse is Isaiah 40:8 

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. 

Biography Challenge for Christmas Break

I know that reading is probably the last thing you would consider as enjoyable at this moment. You are probably busy reading, studying, and writing in order to ensure you survive this semesters final gantlet called "finals week." I am praying for you my beloved brothers and sisters.

But, I want to suggest a way to encourage your soul over this Christmas break. Why not plan to read a good Christian biography? I really enjoy reading theology books, but what often brings me the most encouragement is to read a good biography of a faithful Christian who has traveled the pilgrim path before me.

Here are a few good reasons to read a biography of a faithful Christian:

1. It gets me outside of myself and into the sufferings of another child of God. It reminds me that suffering is the common lot of all people in this fallen world and that Christians have resources to endure suffering with joy in Christ.  
2. It helps me see my blind spots. We can often become myopic, only seeing things from our own culture and times. Reading of saints from bygone eras helps me overcome my temptations to chronological snobbery and cultural blindness. 
3. It reminds me that God has been our dwelling place in ages past and is, therefore, my hope in years to come. That is to say, God has been faithful to believers in the past and that encourages my trust in him as I look to the future. Biographies remind me that our labor is not in vain, even when it might feel that way at times, because God is at work in history. 

So, I encourage you to read a good biography (or listen to one using audible or christian audio). Here are few good ones you might consider

• Any of Piper's books in The Swans are Not Silent series (each on contains a short biography of 3 people with great application)
• Through Gates of Splendor or Shadow of the Almighty by Elisabeth Elliott (on Jim Elliot and the 5 missionaries martyred in Ecuador in the 1950's)
• A Chance to Die: The Life and Legacy of Amy Carmichael by Elisabeth Elliott,
• 8 Faithful Women by Michael Haykin
• 10 Who Changed the World by Danny Akin is the one I plan to read / listen to (it is available on kindle for 2.99 and you can add an audible version that syncs to kindle for another 2.99).

There are lots of other good ones. I you are interested in one and want to know if it is worth picking up, email me and I'll see what I can find out. Also, you can check out the church library to find some biographies (click here).

Enjoy.