Yesterday morning, I took some time to do some spiritual inventory and assessment, and one of the things I have made a priority in my life is renewal through (re)discovery of the gospel in my life. A couple of years ago, I wrote a seven-part series on gospel-centered renewal but noticed I never compiled the [...]
Archive for the ‘Renewal’ category
Free Resource: Gospel-Centered Personal Renewal
June 10, 2011Gospel Presuppositions
July 22, 2010In his book, Gospel-Centered Hermeneutics, Graeme Goldsworthy talks about the presuppositions of the gospel which make up the “material priority of the Scriptures.” These presuppositions are prior truths without which the gospel could not be the gospel. He lists them as the following: * The God who is there is the God of the Bible, [...]
Addressing the Damaging Effects of Professionalism in the Local Church
March 16, 2010“We pastors are being killed by the professionalizing of the pastoral ministry. The mentality of the professional is not the mentality of the prophet. It is not the mentality of the slave of Christ. Professionalism has nothing to do with the essence and heart of the Christian ministry. The more professional we long to be, [...]
No one needs the gospel more than me.
March 11, 2010This morning, I enjoyed another meeting with two young men of Grace (my A-team) at Panera talking about being faithful to apply the gospel to our own heart. If I truly know myself, we will be quick to confess that the worst sinner in the room at any given time is me. Therefore, there is [...]
Gospel Renewal Through the Fear of the Lord
September 16, 2009A couple of weeks ago, I started up a series on gospel-centered renewal, and I want to continue thinking through spiritual renewal that is gospel-nourished. One of the things that has struck me of late is how the Scripture connects “the fear of the Lord” to metaphors or direct references to life, sustenance, and satisfaction. [...]
Renewal Through Remembering
August 13, 2009I’m continuing my series on gospel-centered renewal with excerpts and commentary focusing on how we experience renewal in the Christian life. If our union with Christ is the heart of renewal, then we should also consider the main arteries from which such nourishment and vitality comes. Today I want to encourage you to consider how [...]
We do pant for this.
August 8, 2009On March 24, 1878, Charles Spurgeon prayed over his congregation, and included in that prayer are the following requests for renewal: “O Lord, give us more and more to have the new life, yea, and to have it more abundantly, for this is one of the objects of His coming. May the new life always [...]
Jonathan Edwards on Continued Transformation and Renewal
August 7, 2009In his book Religious Affections, Jonathan Edwards argued that one way distinguish truly gracious affections from others is that they are attended with a change of nature. When the soul has a spiritual understanding of the excellency and glory of divine things, such understanding brings the supernatural effect of transformation, or a change of nature. [...]
Gospel-Centered Renewal: I Will Be Made New
August 5, 2009:: The Series :: I Have Been Made New (Justification) I Am Being Made New (Part 1) (Sanctification) I Am Being Made New (Part 2) 16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is [...]
Gospel-Centered Renewal: I Am Being Made New (Part 2)
August 3, 2009:: The Series :: I Have Been Made New I Am Being Made New (Part 1) 16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond [...]
Gospel-Centered Renewal: I Am Being Made New (Part 1)
August 1, 2009Picking up where I left off, I want to draw out the continuous nature of gospel renewal through the ongoing work of sanctification. Behind these posts is the central theological motif that our union with Christ is the fountainhead of all genuine renewal in the Christian life, and therefore we should center our lives, churches, [...]
Gospel-Centered Renewal: I Have Been Made New
July 29, 2009I believe one of the defining theological marks of my generation is a passionate commitment to the centrality and sufficiency of the gospel for all of life. Some of this could be understood as a corrective to a truncated or shelved gospel, but I am more inclined to believe that God is awakening His people [...]
Tis Always First Quadrant
February 7, 2012“Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.” – Acts 20:28 “Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by doing you will save [...]
Categories: Holiness, Personal Commentary, Renewal
Tags: Communion with God, Godliness, Holiness, Pastoral Ministry
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