Tuesday, December 29, 2009

10 Questions To Ask In The New Year...

I'm a big proponent of reexamining, rechecking, reflecting...just all the "re's" I guess...at the end of one year and the beginning of another.

It's a perfect time to really look back and assess our spiritual strengths and spiritual weaknesses (the good, the bad and the ugly). It's a perfect time b/c it seems that our culture/our world still moves a little slower than normal coming off the Christmas holidays and it allows us a chance to take a spiritual breath and to spiritually think.

So here's some help to that end...

Don Whitney:

The beginning of a new year is an ideal time to stop, look up, and get our bearings. To that end, here are some questions to ask prayerfully in the presence of God.

1.What’s one thing you could do this year to increase your enjoyment of God?

2.What’s the most humanly impossible thing you will ask God to do this year?

3.What’s the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your family life this year?

4.In which spiritual discipline do you most want to make progress this year, and what will you do about it?

5.What is the single biggest time-waster in your life, and what will you do about it this year?

6.What is the most helpful new way you could strengthen your church?

7.For whose salvation will you pray most fervently this year?

8.What’s the most important way you will, by God’s grace, try to make this year different from last year?

9.What one thing could you do to improve your prayer life this year?

10.What single thing that you plan to do this year will matter most in ten years? In eternity?


Please pray through these by yourself and then make "yourself available" to sit down with your wife/husband and talk and pray through these together. It would make for great table talk during date night. As a matter of fact Stephanie and I will be doing just that this Friday, so we will be talking through these together.

Whitney writes:

The value of many of these questions is not in their profundity, but in the simple fact that they bring an issue or commitment into focus. For example, just by articulating which person you most want to encourage this year is more likely to help you remember to encourage that person than if you hadn’t considered the question.

You can read the full (31 Questions) list here.

(HT: Justin Taylor)

Monday, December 21, 2009

Check This Freak Out!



This is bold and beautiful to watch! It all goes down about 3:33 into the video. Is He this holy in Eads?

Sunday, December 20, 2009

The Mind Of A Missionary

Young missionaries, when warned they could die in this hostile place, said: "We died before we came here." Colossians 3:3

(HT:John Piper/Twitter)

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Love It...Bringin' It From Dockers!

Talking about 'manning up'.

Someone has had enough of the Political Correctness in this country at Dockers, and it's about time!

Check out this man-ifesto from Dockers on their store website.....I'm lovin' it!

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

What is the most effective way for parents to influence their children?

Gary Thomas gives a great answer to a great question. As parents we should be asking similar questions like this often.

You can click Here to watch Gary's answer in under 2 minutes.

Monday, December 7, 2009

Gospel Centered Leadership

Here is a good reminder from Tullian Tchividjian of what should be the aim of my life as a Christian/pastor/shepherd/leader. I hope this is true of my life now and will always be true.

I hope it reminds you of your own repentance and faith.


In the June issue of Tabletalk my friend Scotty Smith wrote an article to young Christian leaders exhorting them to be gospel-centered in their various roles (for whatever reason I just saw it and read it today). Reflecting on mistakes he’s made and lessons he’s learned over a 30 year span of fruitful ministry, he outlines his exhortation under three headings:

1.Gospel astonishment versus theological cockiness
2.Chief repenter versus former sinner
3.Preaching Christ to yourself versus preaching yourself


Scotty’s timely cry for “an emerging generation of leaders who will live and lead as genuinely as [the apostle]Paul” is painfully helpful, not only for young Christian leaders but for all Christian’s everywhere.

You can read the whole thing here. Please do!