We all like and long for approval. We desire affirmation. We want to be liked. We want the thumbs up of approval and the back slap of affirmation. We want to hear “good job” after a presentation, an “I’m impressed” after a house project, and a “you’re a great parent” from our parents when they […]
Read More The danger of affirmationWhat We Want from the Word Psalm 119:129-136 December 27, 2020 What did you want this week? That’s a fitting question for a week when there is much gift giving. What gifts were you anticipating giving? What kinds of gifts were you hoping to receive (or not receive)? Where did you want to go (or […]
Read More Sermon: What We Want from the WordD. A. Carson told the story of Lillian Guild who was driving one day with her husband and noticed a recent-model Cadillac at the side of the road with its hood up. The driver explained with some embarrassment that he was in a hurry to get to a business meeting and that while he’d seen […]
Read More What do you want?It’s your birthday. And positioned on the table in front of you is your celebration cake, loaded with far too much candlepower — bearing testimony to your advancing age. Your family and friends encourage you to “make a wish” before you have your lung capacity tested in the attempt to extinguish the dancing flames. What […]
Read More You have one wish…As someone who has battled with controlling his weight for most of his life, I appreciated this from The Christian Pundit: Thing is, almost nobody is seeing the fat issue as an expression of a heart issue: an idolatry of food. That’s what gluttony is, whether or not our BMI is over 30. Because gluttony […]
Read More Gluttony – it’s not just overeating“Do not love the world, nor the things in the world.” John (1 Jn. 2:15) could not be more clear. The things that are in the world, and all that the world produces from its ungodly system are deadly for the godly man when he lives for them and not for Christ. The believer should […]
Read More Sunday Leftovers: Worldly desiresThomas Chalmers, “The Explusive Power of a New Affection:” The love of the world cannot be expunged by a mere demonstration of the world’s worthlessness. But may it not be supplanted by the love of that which is more worthy than itself? The heart cannot be prevailed upon to part with the world, by a […]
Read More Expunging the world from your heartC. S. Lewis makes some helpful observations about greater and lesser things in an essay in God in the Dock. The first few paragraphs I quote lead one to personal application — if I pursue anything more than I delight in and desire God, I am an idolator and will have neither the thing I […]
Read More Greater things, lesser things, and our cultureAlmost three decades ago, when I was a first or second-year seminary student, a retired pastor in our congregation pulled me to the side in the foyer one Sunday morning. “I have a question for you,” he said. And pointing his finger somewhat aggressively towards me, he asked, “why do you do what you do?” […]
Read More Your motive mattersEven as a young elementary student, I knew what “Heads up!!!” meant there was an incoming ball on a swift and direct trajectory with me head and I was about to get beaned. So “heads up” meant, “watch out” and “cover up” at the same time. Danger was approaching. And most of the time I […]
Read More Heads up!Earlier today, I blogged about our desires and passions in relation to our position in Christ (“What do you want?”). Some time ago, I came across this chart (commonly called, “the Y-Chart”), which I have modified very slightly to help us understand how each decision we make flows out of the desires and longings of […]
Read More What do you want? — a chartWhat do you want? What do your really long for and crave? What do you want so badly that even thinking about not getting it leaves a knot in your stomach? What do you want so badly that perhaps your friends think you are consumed with that passion? There are many ways we might answer […]
Read More What do you want?“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” (2 Cor 3:18) For believers in Christ, our faces have been unveiled. That is, we are allowed to gaze at the […]
Read More What am I looking at?Found on the internet recently: “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4 Is that what that means? And what about Jesus’ words in John 15? “If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done […]
Read More Ask whatever you want…God will do itEvery life has good and trouble — or to use the terms of Luke 6, blessings and woes. Each day has some of both. A card of encouragement and a hospital bill come in the same mail box: blessing and woe. A perfectly baked potato and an overdone steak are served as part of the […]
Read More Blessings and woes
