“There is a total difference between surviving sin and reigning sin, the regenerate in conflict with sin and unregenerate complacent to sin; it is one thing for sin to live in us; it is another for us  to live in sin.” John Murray, Redemption Accomplished and Applied (SO looking forward to women’s Bible study starting up this week on Kris Lundgaard’s The Enemy Within: Straight Talk About the Power and Defeat of Sin!) 

Man o man! I’m supposed to be cutting words from our 90,000 first draft to get it closer to the 75,000 word requirement in our contract with Baker … but as of 9:13PM today, I’ve somehow moved us up to 112,869 words (!). Must be all of this great research I keep reading in my files and thinking, “Well we HAVE TO include THAT, don’t we?!” (Oh, Tara. You are in TROUBLE.) (BTW—Aren’t you glad you’re not me tonight? I’m happy that the night is still young and I’m feeling a close kinship with my college freshman niece and grad school buddy Kelly V. It sure feels like exam week…

I saw a FaceBook post by Peacemakers about this very topic only minutes after I received an email from a friend who was responding to my request that she meet with me to talk about some of my “areas in need of further sanctification.” So of course I had to post it here  for you too! Asking for Correction (by Ken Sande) My friend has graciously, but honestly, helped me with such things in the past. (Painful? Embarrassing? Yes! But helpful and good in that true-meaning-of-the-word-good-way too.) So I’m going to print out a copy of the “friend letter” to bring along to our visit …  

Hands down, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the best teaching I have ever heard on anger: The Healing of Anger (Rev. Tim Keller) I need to listen to it again. Slowly. And really pray because (of course) this morning my “disordered love” is tempting me to sinful anger—even just moments after my hour walk wherein I listened to the entire message (!).   Oh oh oh! What a wretched woman I am. Who will rescue me from myself? Thanks be to God … The slow to anger, abounding in love, Triune, holy, saving, redeeming, forgiving God.  

Earlier this week, Justin Taylor posted some great Matt Chandler quotes from a sermon link: ‘It’s okay not to be okay—but it’s not okay to stay there.’ ‘If you create an environment where it’s okay not to be okay, you create an environment where the gospel is breathed in and out constantly. . . We want to constantly drive people back to the cross.   You come in feeling ashamed, you’re feeling dirty, you’re feeling overwhelmed? [God] knows! The whole point of the cross is you being where you are right now—so that you wouldn’t have to be there tomorrow if you submit your heart and life to the sovereign…

COMBATING WEARINESS WITH ALTERNATE FORMS OF EXERCISE. (Written after a short visit to Ukraine when I preached 13 times in four days) Ajith Fernando “A few decades ago the cricket-loving world was shocked when a popular and brilliant English cricketer said that the pressure of having to perform according to people’s expectations and the resulting stress often led him to take cannabis after a game. Cannabis is a narcotic. A narcotic is ‘a drug (as opium) that in moderate doses dulls the senses, relieves pain, and induces profound sleep but in excessive doses causes stupor, coma, or convulsions’ (Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary). Tiredness, especially if it has been accompanied by…

Gwen W. is preachin’ it over at Feet on the Rock. This post is  worth the read: Ten Ways to Tame the Worry Habit Thanks, Gwen.  

‘It is no coincidence that the problems of the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3 are followed by a majestic vision of Him who sits on the throne in (ch. 4) and the Lamb who was slain (ch. 5). The magnificent picture of the sovereign, holy God of the universe sitting on the throne and the Lamb at His right hand follows seven very practical, specific letters. Indeed, the vision of God in chapters 4 and 5 is the answer to the problems posed in chapters 2 and 3. Each of the churches is called to overcome.  But how do you do that? The answer is found in chapters…

Justin Taylor hits it out of the park with his recent post on GOSPEL CHANGE: Imperatives without Indicatives = Impossibilities Please read it. For yourself, your spouse, children, friend, pastor, sheep. If only we could really GET THIS and live it out! Oh, the sweetness of grace that would overflow in our own lives, families, churches, workplaces, communities. Let me tempt you with just a snippet: “The dominant mode of evangelical preaching on sanctification, the main way to motivate for godly living, sounds something like this: You are not _____; You should be _________; Therefore, do or be ________! Fill in the blank with anything good and biblical (holy; salt…

TakeYourVitaminZ linked to a (convicting! accurate!) read over at RefineUs: Accountability is Useless It doesn’t take long to read the entire article, but it’s definitely worth it. The author, a pastor, begins by explaining all of the different levels of “accountability” he implemented in his life. But then he says this: “So with all of these boundaries and all of these safe guards and all of these great leaders and friends holding me accountable how could I ever be unfaithful to God and my wife? That’s not possible right? But I was unfaithful, despite all of my accountability. What I have discovered is accountability is useless. Accountability is only as…