Never been able to make it to a Desiring God conference . This year’s conference ended today, and it looked to be an insightful time in God’s Word. Look forward to perhaps working through the audio recordings and become a better communicator of God’s glorious wonder. ————— The DG Blog has some recent posts summarizing the messages, with audio links and some notes either from the speaker or from an attentive listener Some of the posts: Pray More than You Criticize (about Mark Driscoll’s message) 3 Ways Singing Serves the Word (from Bob Kauflin’s...

"The worth and excellency of a soul is to be measured by the object of its love." - Henry Scougal SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Worth + Excellency", url: "http://www.deTheos.com/2008/09/28/worth-excellency/" });

The ever-challenging Jared Wilson wrote a recent piece on "Five Ways to Feel Scripture ." A little clip: "We like to keep Scripture short and manageable, and that’s understandable. It’s certainly more convenient that way. But we will not be mastered by Scripture if we don’t occasionally allow it to overwhelm us, intimidate us, and force us to wrestle with it." Read the whole thing … SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Feeling God’s Words", url: "http://www.deTheos.com/2008/09/28/feeling-gods-words/" });

Tim Chester, co-author of Total Church, was interviewed over on the Desiring God blog. Check it out. Good stuff.  I’ve been reading the book and am challenged on a number of levels. My soul and mind resonate with the subtitle: “A radical reshaping around Gospel and community.”  A helpful quote from Chester: One of our catchphrases is “ordinary people living ordinary life with gospel intentionality.” It means doing the chores, having meals, watching sports, and so on with an intention to talk about Jesus, to pastor one another with the gospel, and to share that gospel with...

"Note then the kindness and the severity of God : severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off." (Romans 11:22) Note the context (Rom. 11) SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Behold", url: "http://www.deTheos.com/2008/09/26/behold/" });

Or go home without it, for that matter. What am I talked about? Visa, MasterCard, American Express? Nope. You can live a whole life without those. But, you cannot live a second of your life without the Gospel. That is because we need Jesus … always. The more I talk with church leaders and people, the more I think we have largely missed the Gospel. We think of it as the starting point, or the diving board (to use my favorite home-grown analogy). We don’t just start at the Good News of Jesus and then move onto maturity in the Christian life focusing on other things. We never, ever, ever...

“The tragedy of the world is that the echo is mistaken for the Original shout. When our back is to the breathtaking beauty of God, we cast a shadow on the earth and fall in love with it. But it does not satisfy." —John Piper, The Dangerous Duty of Delight , p. 9. "The books or the music in which we thought the beauty was located will betray us if we trust them… For they are not the thing itself; they are only the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never yet visited.” —C.S. Lewis, quoted by Piper, same page. SHARETHIS.addEntry({...

From tonight’s "Morning and Evening" via Spurgeon: "And they follow me."—John 10:27 We should follow our Lord as unhesitatingly as sheep follow their shepherd, for He has a right to lead us wherever He pleases . We are not our own, we are bought with a price—let us recognize the rights of the redeeming blood. The soldier follows his captain, the servant obeys his master, much more must we follow our Redeemer, to whom we are a purchased possession. We are not true to our profession of being Christians, if we question the bidding of our Leader and Commander. Submission...

Here is a real picture of a man who considers himself a real sinner, who’s identity is found in Jesus, and who has relied upon Him for decades. SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "A compelling interview", url: "http://www.deTheos.com/2008/09/06/a-compelling-interview/" });

9 “Therefore I still contend with you, declares the Lord, and with your children’s children I will contend. 10 For cross to the coasts of Cyprus and see, or send to Kedar and examine with care; see if there has been such a thing. 11 Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit. 12 Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the Lord, 13 for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken...