John Piper honored with a new book

At the Desiring God National Conference last weekend, John Piper was honored with a festschrift. The volume, appropriately entitled For the Fame of God’s Name, is edited by Justin Taylor and Sam Storms and includes articles by colleagues at his church and Desiring God, and long-time friends and co-laborers — men like D. A. Carson, […]

Temptation and gratitude

Paul says that after putting off sexual sin (Eph. 5:3-4a), the believer is also put on the contrasting righteous action of gratitude. When tempted to sin as an expression of his discontentment with God, the believer is to consciously cultivate gratitude in his heart. How might we express gratitude in our hearts and with our […]

Sunday Leftovers (10/3/10)

In Not Even a Hint, Josh Harris has a helpful section on the lies the world system offers about sexual temptation and the truth Scripture reveals about those lies. I turned his principles into a chart that I find helpful in seeing the difference in worldviews: Or, download it as a PDF.

Books and audio updated

I have to come up with an easier and less time-consuming way to update my “currently reading” and “recently on my iPod” pages. Haven’t figured it out yet, so they aren’t updated as often as they could/should be. But, today they have been updated. Hope to do it again in less than three months, unlike […]

Entertainment industry, the portrayal of sin, and discernment

From Josh Harris (Not Even a Hint): It doesn’t matter what something is rated, or how popular it is, or how seemingly innocent it appears. If it hardens your heart toward God, if it obscures your awareness of the ugliness of sin and the holiness of God, if it takes the edge off your spiritual […]

When to talk to your children about sex

In another helpful “Ask the Counselor” video clip from CCEF, the question “When should I talk to my children about sex?” is answered: Summary: Talk often, talk freely, and talk soon.

Reading Jeremiah

It is for good reason that Jeremiah is called “the weeping prophet.” Not only is he the author of the book of Lamentations, but his ministry is also one of continued rejection. And not only did the people reject his warnings from the Lord, but God Himself promised Jeremiah that they would reject these admonitions […]

Read 10 chapters of the Bible every day?

There are many different kinds of Bible reading plans — Old Testament only, New Testament only, a-chapter-a-day, four-chapters-a-day, the whole Bible in a year, chronological readings. But a couple of months ago I came across another unique plan — 10 chapters a day! The design of the plan by English Professor Grant Horner is to […]

Some overlooked Piper quotes

Part of the problem of the technological age in which we live is that some things which should be forgotten and disappear into the vapor of air as soon as they are said, is that they are instead recorded, processed, transcribed, printed and disseminated in a variety of media forms, most notably, the Internet. On […]

What love is…and isn’t

Yesterday I suggested a new definition of love: “Love is a commitment of my love and affections to your needs and best interests regardless of the cost to me and as an expression of my desire to please God.” It is easy to think of this definition (or any other definition) and misunderstand it by […]

A good place to read a book

Justin Taylor pointed out what must be a really wonderful place to read a book: And then, when you are tired of reading, you can move to your desk to do some work:

Love defined

For a long time I have used a slight variation of a definition of love that I read many years ago in Tim Kimmel’s Little House on the Freeway. After the message this morning, I am modifying it again: “Love is a commitment of my love and affections to your needs and best interests regardless […]

Sunday Leftovers (9/26/10)

In Ephesians 5:1-2, Paul refers to the security of our love from God the Father as the basis of our love for others. We can love others because we have been loved by Him. That principle then begs the question, “What are the qualities of a loved child, and how will those qualities impact his/her […]

Well-said at the conference

A few things that I thought were particularly well-said at the biblical counselor training conference last weekend (due to limitations in my transcription skills, these may not be exact quotations): Biblical counseling discerns thinking and behavior that God wants to change. [Lance Quinn] There is a two-fold purpose in and for our lives: becoming more […]

Conference update

Last weekend we completed our first of three weekends of training in the Biblical Counselor Training Conference. All the audio for the conference (all ten sessions) is now available online. Lance Quinn also spoke twice on Sunday morning, addressing the topic, “When Affliction Comes” (Ps. 119) during Sunday School, and then providing a 15-point overview […]