Discipling Your Kids Is More Than Family Devotions: I am confident, therefore, that as we steep ourselves in Scripture and allow God to broaden our view of discipleship to encompass the entire day, our capacity to perceive and leverage timely opportunities will become the natural outflow of our lives. As a result, our children may find faith that is utterly pervasive and a Savior who really does change everything, not just bedtime.

Inviting Children Into The Prayer Closet: When I look at John Newton’s life, a man who was once nicknamed “The Great Blasphemer,” I wonder how many of his mother’s pleas with God, blessings that filled a prayer closet and his little preschooler ears, carried him through his far away years and helped to bring his heart close to Jesus?  Only God knows.

When I Glory In My Shame: I need to be aware of these things—each of those ugly things on my ugly list. And most of all, I need to remember what is mostly deeply true. There is nothing inherently wrong with wanting to have the approval of others, and especially to receive the affirmation of God. But the crucial fact is, I already have it through Christ. I am already accepted by God because of what Christ has done, and this acceptance is all I need. When I am at my best it means everything to me. But when I am at my worst, it means nothing.

You Are My Son, and I Love You: As a Christian who believes the gospel should permeate every area of my life, there are more and more blind spots that I’m learning to see more clearly. When it comes to baseball, I realized that my sincere attempts to make them better players was not honoring the gospel. My response to them was based on their performance (good works), and their identity as a baseball player was more dominant in their thinking than being my sons.

10 Lessons Regarding Vacation: I am not the savior of the church. Jesus is. I don’t have to die for the church. Jesus did. I don’t have to run the church. Jesus does. 

Three Takeaways From Parks And Rec: So I invite you to stay awhile. Enjoy the best of your city and work to change the worst. As Perd Hapley might say, “The story of this article is that place matters. And by place, I mean, wherever you live.”

Praying In The Spirit: But we do pray, we can pray, we should pray because the Spirit assures that God is our Father who longs to hear us. The Spirit of God enables us to share the experience of sonship that God the Son experiences. That is a glorious gift of grace. It means confidence, intimacy and joy.

How Christians Should Mortify Sin: Mortification withers sin’s power over you by focusing on Christ’s redemption in a way that softens your heart with gratitude and love; which brings you to hate the sin for itself, so it loses its power of attraction over you. In summary, then, we kill sin in the Spirit when we turn from sinful practices ruthlessly and turn our heart from sinful motivations with a sense of our debt to love and grace, by minding the things of the Spirit.

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Weekly Once-Over:

4 Lesson I Learned About Legacy From My Family: Jesus loves working through families, seeing lives changed and legacies of faith built. And there is no greater gift you can pass on to the next generation than the gift of the gospel.

Is Recreational Marijuana Use A Sin?: Presumably, no one adds marijuana to brownies because it improves their flavor. The reason to add this particular plant to foodstuffs is because of its effect on senses other than taste. However, let's assume that someone really does enjoy and gain some nourishment from eating marijuana leaves. Would that be a sin?

Using Our Gifts To Serve God, Not Ourselves: Did God give us the church as a place to use our gifts? Or did he give us gifts so we could serve the church? The difference might seem subtle, but the way you answer has a profound impact on how you view yourself, your church, and your volunteers.

Rhythms For Family Devotions: How we practice these three rhythms will vary based on our family make-up, the ages of our kids, and the season of our lives. Don’t get discouraged. Don’t get up in your head. Don’t over-complicate it. Look for every opportunity to talk with your kids about Jesus and use family devotions to spawn those conversations. Read together. Sing together. Pray together. It’s that simple.

3 Factors To Consider When Choosing Resources For Family Devotions: Simply put, there is no shortage of crappy so-called "Christian" content in general. Just walk the aisles of your local Christian bookstore if you don't believe me. As parents we need to be careful about the content we put in the hearts and hands of our kids. They need to be Biblically-faithful. Most kids Bibles treat the stories of Scriptures like moral fables, disconnected from the overarching message of God's Word. The resources you choose need to be faithful to Scripture and thus Christ-centered. 

5 Rules For Family Devotions: These rules aren't meant to be restrictive, they're meant to be helpful. I've been praying all week that these posts would be encouraging and help simplify this important practice in your family like they have in mine. I'm praying and trusting that God will use His Word invested into our kids to draw them to Himself.

But Do You Adore Jesus?: What I notice a lot every day in the Christian spheres of social media is just how incredibly adept we evangelicals are at doctrinal criticism, cultural rebuke, theological analysis, biblical exegesis, contending for the faith in apologetic and ethical debates, pithy spiritualbon mots, religious advice, and of course the quoting of Christian leaders present and past, but what seems less prevalent is adoration of Jesus.

Evangelicals Find Themselves In The Midst Of A Calvinist Revival: Evangelicalism is in the midst of a Calvinist revival. Increasing numbers of preachers and professors teach the views of the 16th-century French reformer. Mark Driscoll, John Piper and Tim Keller — megachurch preachers and important evangelical authors — are all Calvinist. Attendance at Calvin-influenced worship conferences and churches is up, particularly among worshipers in their 20s and 30s. But Why?

Reading The Bible Like Jesus: Reading the Bible is difficult work. Or at least it can be if we intend to do more than simply read it for enjoyment or duty. There are many things we have to overcome in order to read effectively: the flesh, fatigue, distractions, time pressures from various sources, cold hearts, clogged ears and so on. Even when we overcome all these obstacles of the world, the flesh and the devil, we still find our Bible reading needs adjustment in order to read as Jesus read.

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