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Helpful Wisdom for Parents…

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on guarding sabbath for our children…

An excerpt:

My oldest son started high school this fall. At his orientation the counselors took a portion of the program to speak to parents about the greatest challenge they see students face in school. I expected to hear about poor study habits or substance abuse, but to my initial surprise, these were not at the top of the list. Apparently, the greatest challenge presenting itself in the office of the high school guidance counselor is a growing number of kids struggling with anxiety and depression. Can you guess why? A combination of over-scheduling and sleep deprivation, linked to two main contributors: electronics use and extracurricular activities. We were encouraged as parents to go home and talk to our teenagers about setting boundaries in both these areas. Parents across the auditorium scribbled notes furiously as the counselors outlined some suggestions: limit texting, monitor bedtimes, cut back on team practices. I couldn’t help but think to myself: tonight there will be many demonstrations of teenage angst when mom shows up with her new list of suggestions.

Read and profit yourself…

Avoid Vain Repetition in Prayer…

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…from the DG Blog…

In chapter nine of When I Don’t Desire God, John Piper introduces a memorable and helpful acronym for what to pray before reading Scripture: I. O. U. S.

* Incline my heart to you, not to prideful gain or any false motive. (Psalm 119:36)
* Open my eyes to behold wonderful things in your Word. (Psalm 119:18)
* Unite my heart to fear your name. (Psalm 86:11)
* Satisfy me with you steadfast love. (Psalm 90:14)

The article has more. Read and benefit.

Devoted to Prayer…

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Today’s sermon, A Praying Church, from Colossians 4:2-4 is now online. The sermon surveyed 4 elements of a praying church:
1) She makes prayer her habit
2) She perseveres in prayer
3) She prays gratefully
and 4) She advances the Gospel through prayer.

While we should not minimize our role in taking the Gospel to unbelievers (See next week’s passage Colossians 4:5-6), we often fail to realize the amazing Gospel-advancing work that is ours in prayer as we pray for what I called: open doors, open lives and open mouths. So, join your church in advancing the Gospel through one means: prayer.

Update on Gabe…

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This AM, I asked for prayer for Gabe, who was having surgery this AM…

Well, we are back home and everything went well. He is doing well, although a little more fussy than normal. We are grateful to God for the wisdom He’s given doctors, the servant’s heart modeled in the nurses and staff and for God’s sustaining grace in this particular providence. Join us in praising God and continue to pray for Gabe’s recovery. Thanks.

Pray for Us…

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This Lord’s Day, we will be looking at Colossians 4:2-4. Among other things, this passage will encourage us to be a praying church.

Today, would you pray for my family. Gabe has to have surgery on a bump under his eye (1 stitch to remove it, but he does require anesthesia). Pray for him and us…

We anticipate all going well, but would appreciate your prayers. Thanks!

How Can You Glorify God?

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Here’s Kevin DeYoung’s take:

I imagine most readers of this blog want to glorify God. The chief end of man, after all, is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. But have you ever thought about how to glorify God—I mean practically in every day life?

Here are twenty biblical ways you can.

1. Give God verbal declarations of praise (Rev. 4:8-9).

2. Live a life of noticeable piety (Matt. 5:16; James 1:27; 1 Peter 2:12).

3. Ask God for things in Jesus’ name (John 14:13).

4. Bear fruit and show yourself to be a disciple of Jesus (John 15:8).

5. Declare the truth about Jesus (John 16:14).

6. Love your life less than God (John 21:19; 1 Peter 1:7; 4:16).

7. Worship God as God (Rom. 1:21).

8. Live a life of sexual purity (1 Cor. 6:20).

9. Live a life of generosity (2 Cor. 9:13).

10. Rejoice in God’s glory displayed in creation (Psalm 19:1).

11. Do the works of faith (2 Thess. 1:12).

12. Use your gifts in God’s strength (1 Peter 4:11).

13. Make sure everyone knows you’re not God (Acts 12:23).

14. Live a life of gratitude (Psalm 50:23; 2 Cor. 4:15).

15. In matters of liberty, seek the good of others (1 Cor 10:31).

16. Extend grace to sinners (2 Cor. 8:19).

17. Be a part of a local church (2 Cor. 8:23; Eph. 3:20-21).

18. Tell God you are wrong and he is right (Josh. 7:19; Jer. 13:16; Rev. 16:9).

19. Obey God (Lev. 10:3; Mal. 2:2).

20. Go from a Christ-despiser to a Christ-worshiper (Gal. 1:24).

These twenty ways to glorify God would be a great tool to use in your devotion time or for meditations around the dinner table for family worship. Great stuff.

Weekend Recap – Lordship & Salvation

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Yesterday’s sermon, Lordship for Society, from Colossians 3:22-4:1 is now online. The big idea of this sermon was that we are called to live for Christ’s supremacy in everything we do, including the “small stuff.” Paul appealed to the Colossians to live this out in this way. He pressed slaves and masters to not get hung up on their current status, but to become so focused and consumed with the Lord that He would permeate their lives. I tried to reflect that in what I said yesterday.

In the evening, at small groups, we discussed Thabiti’s mark 5 of a Healthy Church Member: a healthy church member is a Biblical evangelist. One article I mentioned in my group was on Tim Keller’s talk on Defeater Beliefs. Check out that link and be edified and encouraged in your conversations with unbelievers. But at the core and leading to where we’ll be this coming Lord’s Day is the call to pray for openness to the Gospel and boldness to speak it (see Colossians 4:2-4 for more).

More on the Personal Side…

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On Wednesday I promised a post on Thursday (which didn’t happen) on what else has been going on in my life. So, here’s that update.

On August 9, I started a 35 day candida cleanse and detox. What this amounted to, diet wise, was about 1200 calories, no dairy, no wheat, no sugar and no processed foods. It was one of the more strict things I’ve pursued physically in my life. In the process of this, I lost about 44 pounds and felt pretty amazing. I’ve developed a love for vegetables, lean proteins and healthy oils.

Since that ended, over the past month I have continued to work hard on disciplining my life and diet. The basic model I’m trying to follow to lose weight is no grains, no sugars, and no bad fats. Of course, there are times when it is very difficult to follow this, but the normal routine of my life is disciplined in this way. I still shoot for about 1200-1500 calories and have continued to lose even more weight in slow, steady ways.

So, this has been pretty wild. I’ve had to learn new ways to eat and not pound so many carbs. All of this has been pursued on my part because I want to glorify God in my physical body. I have been bought with a price and therefore, want to please Him in my physical body (like 1 Corinthians 6:20 instructs). Please continue to pray for me and ask God to reveal when food is becoming an idol or when my heart is longing for what I don’t need. I have seen how much my eating is related to feeding selfish cravings. I want to be holy above all.