Weekly Roundup For Your Weekend Reading – June 9


8 Rules For Growing In Godliness: Rule #5: Pondering The Brevity Of Life

“This life is a race, a race against time, a race to become like Christ as we sprint toward Christ. Even the greatest believers will still be laden by sin as they cross the finish and receive their crown. The holiest saints will still be stained with sin, drawn to evil. It is only in the presence of Christ where they will experience final deliverance from the power of sin and final transformation to complete holiness. Yet there is much we can and must accomplish in the meantime, and our usefulness to Christ’s purposes depends upon our holiness. Such holiness demands that we ponder the short time given to us, that we consider what we have done with it, that we commit to making the most of what remains. To grow in godliness, we must diligently ponder the brevity of life….”


Fake Christian Emotions and Real Christian Affections

“American evangelicals have a conflicted view of the emotions. On one hand, sentimentalist literature, music, and “art” are among the biggest sellers in the Christian market. On the other, it is a staple of evangelical rhetoric that you “can’t trust your feelings.” The basis of our faith is not our feelings, countless sermons have told us, but the Word of God. That is undoubtedly true, in the sense that our feelings about faith will fluctuate, but the Word does not change. But if feelings are irrelevant, why did Jonathan Edwards tell us, “True religion, in great part, consists in holy affections”?….”


Self-Examination Speaks A Thousand Lies

The only note I’ll make is, I wish he had titled the post, “Self-Examination Can Speak A Thousand Lies”. However, he does make the point that this is about unhealthy introspection, not the Biblical call for us to examine ourselves.

“God calls us to examine ourselves (2 Corinthians 13:5; Lamentations 3:40), but healthy self-examination is a difficult and dangerous duty. The flesh seizes self-examination as an opportunity to turn our thoughts against us. Introspection is deceptive because it often looks like we’re doing the right thing: we’re not indifferent to our sin — we want to seek it out! But when that introspection makes us self-absorbed instead of Christ-absorbed, we undermine our faith….”


7 Reasons Worshipers Need The Church

“Recently I heard someone say that they love to worship, but they don’t love the church. They don’t see why a worshiper needs the church at all. After all, can’t we just worship as individuals? Here is my response: While it is true that everything a redeemed person does should be done with both an attitude of worship and with the goal of glorifying God, there remains a special and specific role for the gatherings of the local church….”


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