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Recap – Will of God

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Today’s sermon from Colossians 1:10 entitled “Walking in the Will of God” is up and online. Continuing the thought he began in 1:9, Paul elaborates and unpacks what walking in God’s will looks like. This morning, specifically, the characteristics of those walking in God’s will are:
1) They live to please the Lord
2) They are blossoming in good deeds
3) They are growing in their knowledge of God

I thought these principles can be applied in many ways…

These are great things to pray for another believer.
They are great characteristics to pursue.
We can have confidence that, as we practice them, we are “walking in God’s will.”

Any thoughts?

Help For Young Families…

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I also found this post by Zach Nielsen helpful…

He’s asked by a young married guy with kids how he organizes his life.
The summary:

1. As you do, I have a rockstar, off the chart, amazing wife.

2. We don’t watch much T.V.

3. We are very intentional about doing things WITH the kids.

4. One of the things we have learned from another family is the idea of “special dates” with the kids individually.

5. Your stage is really hard. Having a toddler and a new baby is very physically demanding.

6. As our kids get older, I’m sure we’ll limit their activities.

7. In the end, I think you just sort of get used to the chaos.

8. There certainly are times when we feel like we are losing it.

9. I think your feelings of “insanity” are somewhat relative (which isn’t to dismiss them).

Read the entire post for elaboration.

Must Work for Pastors

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I recently was skimming through an old book on pastoral ministry that alluded to an article by Tim Keller and David Powlison entitled “The Pastor’s Self-Evaluation Questionnaire“. One of my peeves about typical pastors (and a frustrating thing for myself) is that there aren’t too many people who open themselves up for, let’s call it, constructive criticism. Sure we have critics, but often they want to lob a complaint and not help you be a better pastor down the road. The frustrating thing for myself is that people are almost too kind. I need feedback to see my weaknesses clearly. The Bible has pretty tall standards for ministers. Far too many conduct ministry as if they are in a different social strata than the people to whom they have been called. I worked through this tool yesterday and thought it to be a very helpful exercise. We are going to discuss it at next Elder’s Meeting. Also, I plan to work through it again, this time not allowing my mind to wonder about who I know that these things apply to and focus more on myself. Enjoy.

Marks of the Mature Man

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Thabiti tipped me off to these marks adapted from an article by Al Mohler:

1. Spiritual maturity sufficient to lead a wife and children.

2. Personal maturity sufficient to be a responsible husband and father.

3. Economic maturity sufficient to hold an adult job and handle money.

4. Physical maturity sufficient to work and protect a family.

5. Sexual maturity sufficient to marry and fulfill God’s purposes.

6. Moral maturity sufficient to lead as example of righteousness.

7. Ethical maturity sufficient to make responsible decisions.

8. Worldview maturity sufficient to understand what is really important.

9. Relational maturity sufficient to understand and respect others.

10. Social maturity sufficient to make a contribution to society.

11. Verbal maturity sufficient to communicate and articulate as a man.

12. Character maturity sufficient to demonstrate courage under fire.

13. Biblical maturity sufficient to lead at some level in the church.

Knowing God’s Will

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In yesterday morning’s sermon, I alluded to some ideas about how we view the will of God and what ramifications this has for our life.

Too many people narrowly define the will of God in terms of this or that decision they are facing. I think God, in His Word, is wanting us to see His will as something larger (i.e. sanctification in 1 Thessalonians 4:3, believing in Jesus as Savior in John 6:40). When we narrowly define God’s will in terms of who we will marry, which job to choose, or other decisions like this, we run the risk of missing out what God’s will actually is for us.

For more info, I would also recommend Kevin DeYoung’s excellent work, Just Do Something.

Weekend Recap – Prayer, Love and Much Praise to God

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Today’s sermons are now online.

In the AM, we looked at Colossians 1:9. The title of the sermon was Prayer. This sermon helped us to see that we are to pray consistently, for others, and for God’s will. In the section on God’s will, we saw that what Paul was primarily thinking about wasn’t some decision help, but specifically that they would know God’s will as seen in Jesus Christ.

In the PM, we looked at Hosea 11:1-13:3, in a sermon entitled God’s Gracious Love. I was utterly amazed at this picture of God’s love and really received benefit from seeing it.

I hope you were encouraged this past Lord’s Day and were able to apply God’s Word to your life.