C.S. Lewis reminds us of our “blindspots” and why it is unhelpful to only read books from our day. The latest are not always the greatest. Here’s an excerpt from his foreword to an English translation of Athanasius’ On the Incarnation. (Find more about Athanasius, the “Father of Orthodoxy.” In this book Athanasius demonstrates the utter uniqueness of the God-Man Jesus.) Lewis gives a good reminder to read good, old books, giving a needed place to the historic voices that speak beyond their day: … Naturally, since I myself am a writer, I do not wish the...

Has it ever occurred to you that your life is far more fruitful than you are faithful? Oh, what a happy tension. Clearly, my impact for Christ is not limited to my finite ability nor imperfect obedience. “What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. ” (1 Cor. 3:5-7) SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Faithful = Fruitful?", url: "http://www.deTheos.com/2008/10/01/faithful-fruitful/" });

Think about what you say online. In our age information is: Instant Constant Global Permanent But don’t let that prevent you from speaking and writing boldly. Even still, choose your words well. (The list of four above was mentioned by Pastor Mark Driscoll in response to the question, "What have you learned, Mark, from those who have criticized you?" in the panel discussion at the Desiring God conference: "The Power of Words and the Wonder of God." SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Instant, constant, global + permanent", url: "http://www.deTheos.com/2008/10/01/instant-constant-global-permanent/"...

As every day is His, these will work at all times too… Tozer on looking outside ourselves: “While we are looking at God we do not see ourselves – blessed riddance. The man who has struggled to purify himself and has had nothing but repeated failures will experience real relief when he stops tinkering with his soul and looks away to the perfect One. While he looks at Christ, the very thing he has so long been trying to do will be getting done within him .” - A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God (Camp Hill, PA: Christian Publications, Inc., 1993), 85. [HT: Of First Importance ] Wesley on...

Brent has a great post, "Personal Preference and Churches ." An excerpt: If you’ve been involved in “church life” for any extended period of time, you surely know that people are not casual about their preferences. We’ve all heard the horror stories of churches splitting over the color of carpet. Some of you may have actually lived through that. Yet most of us are willing to overlook matters like the color of the carpet, but don’t you dare sing too many “contemporary” songs, or “traditional hymns,” depending on which side of the argument you come from. One of the things...

"Let me never forget that the heinousness of sin lies not so much in the nature of the sin committed, as in the greatness of the Person sinned against." – Prayer entitled "Humiliation" in The Valley of Vision , ed. Arthur Bennet (Banner of Truth, 2002 edition). Quoted by Jonathan Leeman in "Individualism’s Not the Problem–Community’s Not the Solution ," Modern Reformation , July/Aug 2008. An excellent essay ! SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Let me never forget", url: "http://www.deTheos.com/2008/07/26/let-me-never-forget/" });

" ‘Tis not that I did choose Thee, For Lord, that could not be; This heart would still refuse Three, Hadst Thou not chosen me … My heart owns none before Thee, For Thy rich grace I thirst; This knowing, if I love Thee, Thou must have loved me first." – Josiah Conder, 1836 Found in the front matter of the Jesus Storybook Bible we bought Dutch. Wow, that’s the type of Christ-exalting humility and truth I hope our young son to grasp. We hope to swim with him in the deep end of God’s perfections and grace (even from this young age). "We love becaus e...

“Transcendent living is Christ-centered living. Living for Christ is the only way you will ever be liberated from your bondage to the overwhelming tendency to shrink the size of your life to the size of your life. The only way to spin free of the narrow confines of your little cubicle kingdom is to live in the big sky country of Christ-centered living. You will never win the battle with yourself simply by saying ‘no’ to yourself. The battle only begins to be won when you say ‘yes’ to the call of your King, the Lord Jesus Christ.” - Paul David Tripp, A Quest for More (Greensboro, NC:...

I’ve recently come to see how un-humble I am (read: prideful), and am desperately in need of the Gospel, and being specifically humble before my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Humility is a reoccurring theme, and truly the answer for all my problems in this two-second earthly life. A right assessment of self (humility), and a proper view of circumstances, as in contentment (see here ). On this theme, there seems to be a strange paradox at work in my life. Why is it that sometimes I am more authentic with people I know are not Christian than with fellow believers and leaders in the...

"Humility is the most essential thing in true religion . . . the great Christian duty is self-denial. This duty consists of two things: first, in denying worldly inclinations and its enjoyments and second, in denying self-exaltation and renouncing one’s self-significance by being empty of self. . . . The humble Christian is more apt to find fault with his own pride than with that of other men. . . . A truly humble person who has a low view of his own righteousness and holiness is poor in spirit and modest in speech. . . . He is apt to put the best construction on others’ words...