Adoption is such an incredible picture of the gospel. It is hard to come up with an aspect of adoption that is not an illustration of what our heavenly father has done for us. But in each regard the magnitude is so much greater with the gospel. If you are a child of God, watch this Third Day video and think about what God has done for you.
Also consider how you might get involved with the church’s orphans and adoption ministry, Reflection Ministries.
Christmastime often provides unique opportunities to communicate Christ to family and friends. Here are a few ideas to jump-start your thinking to reach out to others with the gospel this Christmas:
Update 2 (October 2010): And they just made the World Series! Pretty cool that his teammates deferred to him and celebrated with ginger ale instead of spraying alcohol.
Update: I’m reposting this article I wrote a couple of years ago about Josh Hamilton because the Rangers just made it to the American League Championship Series in Major League Baseball. Last year he publicly fell again, not as far as he had in the past, but it just showed how powerful the flesh can be and how it is an ongoing battle for him… and for all of us. Plus I’ve included a new video testimony at the bottom.
Josh Hamilton, a professional baseball player for the Texas Rangers, is an amazing testimony of God’s power to redeem and change a life. You might have heard about Josh Hamilton recently because he put on an impressive show last week at the Home Run Derby, breaking the record by hitting 28 home runs in one round. You can watch all the impressive home runs by Josh Hamilton at MLB’s website here. He even hit three more than 500 feet! In addition to the Derby performance, Hamilton currently leads the Majors in RBIs.
Hamilton’s amazing performance is made all the more impressive when you find out that not too long ago, he was deep within the dark pit of drug addiction. He says that his last drug use was October 6, 2005.
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Spring 2010 Sunday School Class Taught by John Zareva
Part of the doctrinal Sunday School series.
Is there any greater question in the universe then, “What must I do to be saved?” Come join us as we walk through the doctrine of salvation in all its aspects. Using the doctrinal statement of the church as our reference we will discuss the agreed upon and controversial aspects of this most important doctrine. In addition, we will seek to find out how this is more than knowledge for us, but how these great truths show themselves in our daily lives.
View the handouts and ppt files online below: (more…)
Michelangelo's Jonah
The book of Jonah isn’t about a man getting swallowed by a whale for going the wrong way. If it were we would only have chapters one and two. It also isn’t about Ninevah hearing the truth and repenting. If it were we would only have chapter three of the book.
If it is just a whale story and the repentance of Nineveh then what do we do with that pesky chapter four? Chapter four and the book end with this question from God asked to Jonah: “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”
How do we answer that question? Do we care more about ourselves than the people in our community? Do we pursue self-preservation or self-sacrifice?
I enjoyed Tullian Tchividjian first book Unfashionable last summer. Trevin Wax provided an excerpt from his blog to Tchividjian’s latest book that really challenged me and I thought I would pass along. I encourage you to read the below excerpt from Tchividjian’s book, Surprised by Grace: God’s Relentless Pursuit of Rebels:
Some computer somewhere has record of everything we search for on the Internet. How would you feel if that became public information? Some things we search for would embarrass us but aren’t immoral while some things we search for do reveal a heart pursuing things that aren’t of God. (more…)
I was chatting with some guys last night about Mormonism and other cults. What struck me is how intellectually blinded people are that are trapped in Mormonism and other cults. In the case of Mormonism there is plenty of information available about its sordid past and its founding on deception and sin. That information is not hard to find with a little research. Here is one example on Mormonism about how the “Book of Abraham” came to be. How could anyone base their faith on that?!
But it isn’t just Mormons… read on. (more…)
He did, he does it! God loves us beyond what we can understand and his work changes our lives. The below video is a presentation of the Gospel at work. It is from an excellent website I just discovered called IamSecond.com.
Last summer I wrote about Josh Hamilton. He’s got a video on IamSecond.com too.
One of my favorite preachers on the radio is Dr. Allistair Begg. In today’s brodcast he quoted a short Puritan prayer that really hits the centrality of the Gospel in our lives as believers. I hope that this prayer expresses our heart each day.
Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly, Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision, where I live in the depths but see Thee in the heights; hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold Thy glory. Let me learn by paradox that the way down is the way up, that to be low is to be high, that the broken heart is the healed heart, that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit, that the repenting soul is the victorious soul, that to have nothing is to possess all, that to bear the cross is to wear the crown, that to give is to receive, that the valley is the place of vision. Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells, and the deeper the wells the brighter Thy stars shine; let me find Thy light in my darkness, Thy life in my death, Thy joy in my sorrow, Thy grace in my sin, Thy riches in my poverty, Thy glory in my valley.
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