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Maybe You Should Order TableTalk…

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I really enjoy reading Tabletalk, the devotional magazine of Ligonier Ministries. As you can see from the picture to the left, this month’s magazine is on Christ in the Old Testament and features articles from Sproul, Piper, Mohler, and Elyse Fitzpatrick, among others (many of which can be read online). Tabletalk has a Bible reading plan, which I have used in the past. But, I really appreciate the day by day Bible lessons through books of the Bible each month. I think you would appreciate them as well.

Their website gives: Six Reasons to Subscribe to Tabletalk

1. A Bible Study For Each Day
Tabletalk’s daily Bible studies offer structure for your devotional life. Bringing the best in biblical scholarship together with down-to-earth writing, Tabletalk helps you understand the Bible and apply it to daily living.

2. Great Authors, Thought-Provoking Topics
Each issue contains challenging, stimulating articles on a wide variety of issues related to theology and Christian living, written by eminently trustworthy authors—names like Sinclair Ferguson, John MacArthur and R.C. Sproul.

3. True to Historic Christian Faith
Tabletalk avoids trends, shallow doctrine and popular movements to present biblical truth simply and clearly, in keeping with historical Christian faith and orthodoxy.

4. Friendly, Approachable and Convenient
Readers find Tabletalk approachable and inviting, with many saying it’s like having coffee each morning with their favorite teachers. Its compact size means it fits right in your Bible.

5. A Valuable Guide
Beyond the daily Bible studies, Tabletalk includes carefully selected daily readings to take you through the Bible in a year.

6. It’s Affordable
An annual subscription is just $23 ($37 international), more than 36% off the cover price and only $1.92 per month. And you can try it out for three months absolutely free.

Why not subscribe today?

Weekend Recap – Great Christ and Great Task…

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A full day is complete at Crestview…

In the AM, I preached on Greater Than Prophets from Hebrews 1:2b-3. In that sermon, I sought to show how supreme and great Jesus Christ is compared to so much stuff of this world. For me, it truly was an amazing moment to watch God exalt Himself through His Word.

In the PM, the sermon On Children was from Psalm 127:3-5. God has shown His providential care for families by giving children to parents, calling them to the parenting task and blessing their pursuit of it.

I’m full from all of these blessings. Hope your Lord’s day was rich and blessed as well.

Great Questions for Targeting Our Children’s Hearts…

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from Paul Tripp’s Getting To the Heart of Parenting. We’ve been teaching a class of young adults this material. We worked through each of the 10 sessions, now, we are using the rest of the quarter to review the sessions 2 at a time. Last Sunday, we reviewed the sessions entitled “Targeting the Heart.” Here are questions Tripp recommended using to get the heart and motive of your children:

What was going on?
What were you thinking and feeling as it was happening?
What did you do in response?
Why did you do it? or What were you seeking to accomplish?
What was the result?

To encourage younger parents, Tripp said he first used these when his 4 yr. old took a toy from his 2 yr. old brother. This is applicable stuff and can give us a grid to work from in engaging our children’s hearts with the Gospel. Only Jesus can help these to do what is right and honorable to God!

Listening To Sermons Better…

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…can be done in better and useful ways by taking some of these tips from this recent post from The Blazing Center: How To Listen To A Sermon. Among other things, they encourage us to:

Remember Who Is Speaking
Listen Intently
Listen With Humility
Listen With Application in View

I commend the entire post. Think: What is one thing you could do to improve your intake of the Word through sermons you listen to? Well, jump over and get the creative juices flowing.

Weekend Recap – God Speaking, Sin Disappearing…

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Just finally getting around to reviewing the happenings of the weekend at Crestview. It’s always a joy to look back on Monday mornings.

In the Sunday School hour, Tom Dixon is wrapping up Marks of a Messenger by Mack Stiles and I am reviewing Paul Tripp’s Getting to the Heart of Parenting in the adult classes. In my class, we looked at parenting by Targeting the Heart.

In AM Worship, we got into Hebrews finally, noticing how God Has Spoken in Hebrews 1:1-2 (unfortunately there will be no audio available on this sermon due to a problem in the capturing process). This sermon highlighted how God has spoken conclusively and specifically in Jesus Christ.

After a restful afternoon and absorbing KU’s defeat, we gathered in small groups for the evening. We are working our way through Jerry Bridges book Respectable Sins. We read chapter 2-The Disappearance of Sin.

All in all, it was a full day. Some applications for me:
— Don’t look for more of a revelation than the full and final revelation we have in Christ.

— Is sin disappearing from my life? Sure, we bemoan the lax stand of culture, but am I growing lax in my fight with sin, tolerating things God hates?

— How can I get after my children’s hearts better? By not being so driven to quick fix moments and taking time to apply the Gospel to their hearts (not merely behavior).

Hope your Lord’s Day was rich and full, as well.

Loving My Wife…

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In light of Pastor Mark’s recent post Loving the Pastor’s Wife and my sermon last night on marriage being something God has done to point to the Gospel, I thought I should say something about what a blessing my wife is. I’ve been enormously encouraged by her in recent days through some internal struggles I was facing. She is definitely a “helper fit for me.” What I appreciate about her is her willingness to fly behind the scenes and devote herself to me and our family. Her life is given to serve in the church in ways, but her priority is to the Lord and, as such, the ministry we have been knit together to enjoy.

Even today, I got continual encouragements from her on a pretty consistent basis. So, thank God for the gift that He has given me and pray that Meg will love the Savior first and in so doing continue to be a gift to me (and Crestview).

Weekend Recap – Hebrews and God…

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Great Lord’s Day at Crestview today.

In the AM, we started on the book of Hebrews with a sermon entitled Introductory Matters, which looks at the big themes that we see in the book of Hebrews. Great time around those truths.

In the PM, my sermon Marriage Foundation: God, sought to counter our culture’s view of marriage by looking at how God loved us in Christ as the foundation for marriage.