Tim Keller's Mini Guide to Proverbs

In an effort to meditate and think upon Scripture in a deeper, more meaningful way, I am going to be blogging through the book of Proverbs over the next few weeks. I thought this breakdown of chapter 3 by Tim Keller and his description of it being a bit of a road map for the rest of the book would be a good way to start this:

Here is how he opens:

In my regular, daily Bible reading over the past year I read through Proverbs 3, a passage I've studied and preached through many times. But during this reading, I realized that in verses 3 through 12 we have all the themes of the rest of the book, and therefore a kind of mini-guide to faithful living. There are five things that comprise a wise, godly life. They function both as means to becoming wise and godly as well as signs that you are growing into such a life:

The 5 points he sees are:

1. Put your heart's deepest trust in God and his grace. Every day remind yourself of his unconditioned, covenantal love for you. Do not instead put your hopes in idols or in your own performance.

Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. Trust in the LORD with all your heart (Prov 3:3-5a)

2. Submit your whole mind to the Scripture. Don't think you know better than God's word. Bring it to bear on every area of life. Become a person under authority.

Lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. (Prov 3:5b-6)

3. Be humble and teachable toward others. Be forgiving and understanding when you want to be critical of them; be ready to learn from others when they come to be critical of you.

Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones. (Prov 3:7-8)

4. Be generous with all your possessions, and passionate about justice. Share your time, talent, and treasure with those who have less.

Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine. (Prov 3:9-10)

5. Accept and learn from difficulties and suffering. Through the gospel, recognize them as not punishment, but a way of refining you.

My son, do not despise the LORD's discipline and do not resent his rebuke, because the LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in. (Prov 3:11-12)

For the rest of this article click here.

For more from Pastor Keller's new blog/church planting resource site, Redeemer City to City, click here.

A Good Word for Spouses with Children

Such an important and maybe even controversial word for those of us with children, from C. J. Mahaney:

"How common is it today for people to say things like, "My kids are the most important thing in the world to me." Well guys, for you and me, as Christian husbands, that's just an unacceptable attitude because it's so clearly unbiblical. A husband's love for his wife, as Puritan preacher John Wing put it, "must be the most dear, intimate, precious and entire that heart can have toward a creature; none but the love of God...is above it, none but the love of ourselves is fellow to it, all the love of others is inferior to it." In short, the love of husband and wife for one another should plainly exceed, in intensity and scope, all other human loves." (C.J. Mahaney, Sex, Romance and the Glory of God, pg. 90-91)

Click here to purchase this great book for husbands

The Future is Now!

And you thought the iPad was sweet, check this out...Hellllo Jetsons...



Props: Mike Anderson Blog

7 Miles

Sermon jam from Matt Chandler that touches on what Ryan Kelly spoke on this past Easter Sunday regarding the reality of the resurrection.

Enjoy.


Props: Z

John Piper Responds to Why He Asked Rick Warren..

..to speak at this year's Desiring God conference. I am so encouraged by Dr. Piper's response and willingness to cross lines and upset/challenge fundamentalists. There is a lot we can learn from John Piper including theology, lifestyle and how to hold things with a closed hand and open hand.

Christmas Means Nothing Without Easter

"...if the death of Christ on the cross is the true meaning of the Incarnation, then there is no gospel without the cross. Christmas by itself is no gospel. The life of Christ is no gospel. Even the resurrection, important as it is in the total scheme of things, is no gospel by itself. For the good news is not just that God became man, nor that God has spoken to reveal a proper way of life for us, or even that death, the great enemy, is conquered. Rather, the good news is that sin has been dealt with (of which the resurrection is a proof); that Jesus has suffered its penalty for us as our representative, so that we might never have to suffer it; and that therefore all who believe in him can look forward to heaven. ...Emulation of Christ's life and teaching is possible only to those who enter into a new relationship with God through faith in Jesus as their substitute. The resurrection is not merely a victory over death (though it is that) but a proof that the atonement was a satisfactory atonement in the sight of the Father (Rom 4:25); and that death, the result of sin, is abolished on that basis.

Any gospel that talks merely of the Christ-event, meaning the Incarnation without the atonement, is a false gospel. Any gospel that talks about the love of God without pointing out that his love led him to pay the ultimate price for sin in the person of his Son on the cross is a false gospel. The only true gospel is of the 'one mediator' (1 Tim. 2:5-6), who gave himself for us."

-James Montgomery Boice

Ponder and Mediatate on Him Who Hung on a Cross

"Take this to heart and doubt not that you are the one who killed Christ. Your sins certainly did, and when you see the nails driven through his hands, be sure that you are pounding, and when the thorns pierce his brow, know that they are your evil thoughts. Consider that if one thorn pierced Christ you deserve one hundred thousand.

The whole value of the meditation of the suffering of Christ lies in this, that man should come to the knowledge of himself and sink and tremble. If you are so hardened that you do not tremble, then you have reason to tremble. Pray to God that he may soften your heart and make fruitful your meditation upon the suffering of Christ, for we of ourselves are incapable of proper reflection unless God instills it.

But if one does meditate rightly on the suffering of Christ for a day, an hour, or even a quarter of an hour, this we may confidently say is better than a whole year of fasting, days of psalm singing, yes, than even one hundred masses, because this reflection changes the whole man and makes him new, as once he was in baptism."

-Martin Luther