Bibliotheca Kickstarter

I'm in favour of anything that makes Bible reading more accessible (like the new ESV Reader's Bible for example) so i'm in favor of this!

 

Look at the Book (John Piper)

I'm really excited about this:

Bread of Heaven; a video by Glen Scrivener

Ask Doug: What are your thoughts on youth groups?

Yes! And amen. Everything is based on what 'ministry' means. Drawing a crowd or growing disciples? Plugging up the Xbox or opening up the Bible? Supporting Christian parents in Christian homes trying to raise Christian kids, or supplanting them? Preparing teenagers to be grown ups in the church, for church life that's not all about them, where they sing and give and listen and pray? Or guaranteeing that the next generation of churches will look just like adult youth groups. Or even more like them than many currently do. Were that possible.

Tip Your Sacred Cows

First off, take about eight minutes to watch this beautifully shot, and compelling odd, film, Venom and Fire.




Like i said, odd huh? But i'm not trying to make fun of these people or the things they believe. When we finally know as we are known, there are probably things i do, and believe, that will make running around the auditorium with a molotov cocktail seem pretty mundane. And there's no doubt that these people sincerely believe what they're doing is within the boundaries of Biblical Christianity. That makes them sincerely wrong of course, but in many ways it makes them preferable to whatever the latest megachurch craze is by the time you're reading this!

There are sacred cows in every church, every movement, every denomination. And we need to find them, and tip them over.

We find them, first of all, by looking to the Bible. Protestants are people of the book. We're Protestants basically because we believe that the Word forms the Church, not the other way around. It's not just as simple as that, but i think that's a decent summary. We're not saved by handling snakes, or wearing a tie, or reading the King James, but by trusting Christ for salvation, as it tells us in the Bible. Would that guy go to Hell if he stopped handling snakes? No! Will your church be Ichabod if you try something new this weekend? No! But we all have this golden calfs that we can't see beyond. The subjects of this film's are fairly obvious, but only because they're not the same as ours.

We're all like Solomon, we don't know how to come in or how to go out. We all need the wisdom that's from above. And we need protecting from extra Biblical practices, because what we practice is what we believe. We need to know the Bible well enough so that we don't think that just because Paul handled a snake in Malta, we all do. It's the same thing that leads to advocates of homosexuality pulling random verses out of Leviticus to argue with. They could save time by simply tweeting, 'i don't understand how the Bible works.' But we, people of the book, should. Practice like this should drive us back to our Bibles, humble and childlike, making sure we are the people of the book we say we are.

'People say, if I come to your church you'll throw a snake on me.' Well that would put me off! But what extra Biblical expectations put people off coming to your church or to mine? What they have to wear? What they have to do? We may not handle snakes, but if there's something outside the Gospel that puts visitors off, what can we do about it? What sacred cows must we tip? Where are our snake boxes and flaming bottles?

I am Second® - The Robertsons

If you live in the States, the Robertson family probably need no introduction. If you don't, then the Duck Dynasty phenomena is probably unbelievable for a number of reasons! But either way, if you can stand the apalling camera work, their story is well worth 27 minutes of your time.

 

Matt Maher - Lord, I Need You (video)

Halloween: Trick or Treat? (Video)

Pleasure belongs to Jesus (Max Mclean)

What a freeing truth. Do you want to be happy? Happy forever? Then forsake lesser pleasures, all the pleasures that the world know, and cling to Christ. Lean on Him as a bride does on her beloved. We so easily believe the lies of the devil, the lies touched on in this video, that if we want pleasure, if we want to be happy we have to leave Christ. We don't! Pleasure belongs to Jesus, it is His ground. All the devils in the world have failed to produced even a drop, even a moment, of original pleasure. The devil sell us less and less pleasure for more and more of our soul. Instead of drinking from a sieve let's run towards, and bathe in the ocean.

Psalm 40

I'm all for singing the Psalms, so without further ado, here's Newsong's interpretation of Psalm 40.

God's Lavish Love (Matt Chandler sermon jam)

Sunday

This song doesn't obviously mention Easter, but then, as it mentions the joys and benefits of a relationship with God though Christ, it's actually all about Easter Sunday...

Friday

A couple of Good Friday reflections to read/watch

The Servant is the arm of the Lord, unveiled in all his sheer, naked, divine power. Spreading plagues is nothing. Any terrorist with a supply of anthrax can do that. You can knock down buildings with a wrecking ball or a hijacked airplane. It takes infinite power, though, to share Zion’s sin and sickness, absorb the blows of Zion’s rejection and hatred, bear evil all the way to death, and burst out the other side of the grave. How can you defeat a God who transfigures rejection into reconciliation, who choreographs a pageant of injustice into the salvation of the world?

The Innkeeper by John Piper

Watch as John Piper reads his advent poem 'the innkeeper.' This is as beautiful as it is powerful, and at times humourous. Take some time today to watch it, and to reflect, as we celebrate the incarnation and it's implications.

Every Morning: War

True for me, true for John Piper, probably true, to a greater or lesser extent, for you:



Every Morning There’s War in the Piper Household from Desiring God on Vimeo.

Why Read The Bible? (Don Carson)

Amusement and Edification

These two videos are for your amusement and edification...i'm sure you can work out which one is which!