10 Surefire Ways To Make Your Kids Hate Family Devotionals: Want to make absolutely sure that your kids loathe family devotions? Here are ten easy ways to make sure they associate family worship with legalism, boredom, and drudgery.

8 Encouragements To Single Men: Over the years I have seen some men handle singleness well, but I have seen more men handle it poorly. My goal here is not to heap shame on you but to encourage you. In Christ, your sins are forgiven and you are radically loved by the Father. He wants life for you, not death; hope, not despair; sanctified optimism, not disgruntled cynicism. If you are a genuine follower of Jesus every season is an instrument of transformation in the hands of our good and gracious God, as he forms you into the image of his Son (Rom 8:29). He will help you, strengthen you and uphold you (Isa 40:10). He has given you all that you need for life and godliness (2Peter 1:3). So, I encourage you to consider the eight following areas and, moved and motivated by the love and grace of God, make adjustments as needed. These tend to be the greatest areas of weakness for single men. 

Defining Legalism: Since the charge of "legalism" is tossed around carelessly, we should define the terms and see who does and who does not deserve the label. Let me name four classes of legalists. 

5 Godly Lessons From Sports: The odds of getting a full-ride scholarship or a big pro contract are long, but in sports there is a 100% chance that your child will learn lifelong lessons about faith, effort, attitude, playing on a team, and giving God the victory regardless of the outcome. As the parent of a young athlete, here are five ways to make those lessons positive ones.

Pregnancy After Miscarriage: I need grace that results in patience. Yes, the anger and bitterness grown within a person is sin. Thankfully Jesus died to overcome and forgive sin. That's why I can read Romans 5and have hope. I am a broken sinner whom Christ died for, not some beautified warrior riding a stallion.

5 Evidences Of Complementarian Gender Roles In Genesis 1-2: But is it really true? Is that what Genesis teaches? A closer look reveals the egalitarian reading of the text is quite misleading. [ii] Before sin enters the world, Genesis 1-2 presents man and woman as equal in their essence as divine image-bearers but unequal in their social roles. The first man Adam acts as the leader in this first marriage, and Eve is called to follow his leadership. God's appointment of Adam as leader comes out in at least five ways in Genesis 2.

The Savior Who Suffers With Us: The beauty of Christ’s atonement is seen in how God is with us (in our suffering), instead of us (as our substitute), and for us (in victory over the powers of Satan, sin, and death). In today’s blog post, I want to focus on how the truth of the incarnation (in the person of Jesus Christ God is with us) is magnified by the reality of the atonement (God is with us in suffering).

When Compassion Meets Brokenness: Are you facing brokenness, condemnation, seclusion, loneliness or pain?  Are you fighting your way to get to the feet of the one who knows you and longs to heal you?  On the cross, our savior stretched out his hands in compassion and love for us.  He took on our brokenness and in return, poured out true love that redeems the brokenness.  Fight through the crowds, worship at his feet and trust him to extend the love you need to have everything wrong become right again.

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Jesus and Tithing: Tithing, then, is an obedient thing to do.  But we should not think of it as heroic and sacrificial and impressive.  Tithing is Obedience 101.  It is entry-level discipleship.  When we tithe, we should be thinking, “Well, this is for starters.  And I grow from here.”  So let’s tithe.  But let’s also press boldly into the demanding questions of justice and mercy and faithfulness, trusting and obeying Jesus no matter what the cost.

Why I Left Facebook: If anyone has glossed over this entire post until now, leaving Facebook doesn’t mean you (or I) have to leave relationships behind. For myself, I’m actively choosing to deepen the real relationships I already have, and create more space for new ones. I’m excited to see what my life is going to look like without Facebook.

Five Realities Ruining Your Prayer Life: Prayer is arguably the most important practice in the Christian life, yet often the most neglected. How do you explain that? Why do we desire to pray more, but struggle to do so? There is no one answer. There are a great number of realities that are ruining our prayer lives. Here are five...

This Is What Happens When Hip-Hop Lets The Saints In: Lecrae "makes being a Christian cool," Griffin, the BET director, said. "It doesn't feel preachy. It doesn't come off as holier than thou, but speaks to people's circumstances, experiences, and just life in general, just like regular hip-hop...

10 Connections Between Jesus And The Kingdom Of God: The kingdom of God is, in essence, God's redemptive reign. Yet it can be easy to overlook this prominent theme in the life of Jesus, and tempting to assume rather than investigate the importance of the kingdom for Jesus. When we miss the significance of the kingdom to Jesus, however, we can miss the significance of the kingdom for biblical theology and ethics.

Loving One Another Or Making One Another Feel Loved?: When it comes to being and making disciples we know that God wants us to love one another, but let’s be honest: that’s impossible. Instead of pushing into that feeling of weakness and depending on God’s Spirit to work in and through us, we reduce His commands to make us feel more comfortable. We reduce loving people to making them feel loved. We live in a postmodern world where love is determined by how we feel. If we don’t feel loved, then it’s not possible that we are loved.  The problem is that communicating hard truths doesn’t always feel like love and there is a way to make people feel loved all day, and never actually love them.

Don't Be A Sexual Tourist: It is an easy thing, in some ways, to have sex with a woman. But it is a far more challenging, rewarding, and noble thing to pursue a woman, marry her, and remain devoted to her. That is the sort of sexual relationship that will satisfy for a lifetime.

The Bible's Answer To Human Struggle: You might not think the Bible says anything about your struggles. But if you dig deeper, you may find that the Bible actually knows you better than you know yourself.

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Church Colson writes a great blog post about the benefits Christians have joining in Lent:

Five Benefits To Joining In Lent

That said, let's explore five benefits to observing Lent.

1. Lent affords us the opportunity to search the depths of our sin and experience the heights of God's love.

With Good Friday approaching, visions of Jesus' gruesome death remind us of the dreadful reality of sin. Here, our individual and corporate brokenness is on display as the Lord of glory dies under the weight of our just judgment, inspiring personal introspection. Though self-examination can turn into narcissistic navel gazing, such abuses should not foreclose on a godly form of self-examination that encourages humility, repentance, and dependence on Christ.

But for such introspection to remain healthy, we must hold together two realities that converge at the cross—our corruption and God's grace. If we divorce the two, then our hearts will either swell with pride and self-righteousness, losing touch with our sinfulness, or sink into anxious despair and uncertainty, failing to grapple with mercy.

Confident of God's grace in Jesus Christ, we are free to probe the inner recesses of our hearts, unearthing sin's pollution. God's grace liberates us to explore our soul, facing its filth, rather than suppressing or succumbing to its contents. With David, we are free to pray,

Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting! (Ps. 139:23-24)

Searching us, God discovers nothing unknown to him (Ps 139:1-3), but discloses the secrets of our hearts, allowing us to know ourselves. Under his tender scrutiny, God exposes, not to shame, but to heal. Thus, turning inward, we are led upward to find consolation, hope, and transformation through Jesus Christ. Certainly, such piety isn't the exclusive property of any church season, but Lent provides a unique setting for this self-examination.

2. Lent affords us an opportunity to probe the sincerity of our discipleship.

Jesus bore the cross for us, accomplishing our salvation, yet he also bestows a cross on us (Mt. 10:38-39; Lk. 9:23). Following him, Jesus guarantees unspeakable comforts and uncertainties (Jn. 16:32-33). Frequently, these uncertainties test the genuineness of our discipleship. Consider the following examples from Jesus' ministry.

In Matthew 8:18-22, two people approach Jesus, proclaiming their desire to follow him. One, a scribe, offers his undying devotion saying, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus responds by instructing the scribe about the rigors of following him, explaining that foxes and birds enjoy more comfort than he does. Perceiving selfish ambition, Jesus reminds the scribe that following him is not a means for advancing in the world, but rather involves forsaking it. We don't know how this scribe responded to the challenge, but Jesus leaves us with the question, "Will we follow him when it is inconvenient or only when comfortable and to our advantage?"

The second, a disciple, requests to attend his father's funeral before going on with Jesus. Jesus takes the opportunity to reveal the disciple's heart, unveiling his ultimate affections. He says, "Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead." Remember, Jesus warns us that we cannot love father and mother, or anything else, above him (Mt. 10:37). Obviously, Jesus does not forbid loving our parents or attending their funerals, but he does insist on being first in our hearts. Jesus is not a commitment among other commitments, but rather the commitment of our lives. Therefore, as Augustine points out, we must take care to order our loves properly, ensuring that our affections are set on Christ and not another.

In this way, Lent provides opportunity to question and examine ourselves, exploring the integrity of our discipleship.

3. Lent provides us an opportunity to reflect on our mortality.

Pursuing eternal youth, our culture seems to live in the denial of death. But ignoring death does not erase its impartiality—everyone who draws a first breath will take a last one. It is a certainty we can't escape (Heb. 9:27). Fortunately, death is not the last word. For all who belong to Christ, there is a promise stronger than death—we will die, but Jesus will return to raise our bodies, wiping the tears from our eyes and making all things new (1 Cor. 15:12-28; Rev. 21:1-8).

The most difficult moment I face each year, as an Anglican pastor, is to apply the ashes, in the sign of a cross, to the foreheads of my wife and children on Ash Wednesday. It is an intimate and haunting moment. Echoing the words of Genesis 3:19, I say, "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return." It is jarring. Every year, I cry.

Yet the ashes are applied in the shape of Jesus' cross—the only means for escaping the dust of death. When God raised Jesus, he raided death, destroying its power. Jesus' resurrection marks the death of death and welcomes us into a living hope (1 Pt. 1:3). This is our consolation and joy in the midst of our mortality.

Lent provides an unmistakable opportunity for disciplined reflection on this neglected certainty and God's radical solution.

4. Lent gives us the opportunity to move towards our neighbor in charity.

Long misunderstood as a form of works-righteousness, Lenten fasting is not about scoring points with God, but rather emphasizes simplicity for the sake of others. By temporarily carving away some comforts or conveniences, good gifts from God himself, we hope to de-clutter our hectic lives, allowing us to focus. Simple living allows us to reserve time for others while also serving to curb our expenses. It is fitting to allocate these savings, along with other gifts, for charitable purposes, especially directing those funds to the poor and marginalized.

So search your heart and go simple. Consider fasting from types of food, technology, and/or sources of entertainment. Live frugally, and do so for the sake of charity. Find a cause, or better yet a person, and give sacrificially. And, in so doing, may you know the joy of Jesus who gave himself fully to us.

5. Lent prepares us to celebrate the wonder and promise of Jesus' resurrection on Easter Sunday.

Here, Jesus trampled down sin and death, defeating the Devil (Heb. 2:14-15). After a season of depravation, highlighting the grim reality of our broken creation, Jesus' resurrection floods our grief with life and light. In other words, Lent prepares us to join the disciples in their joy and bewilderment on that strange morning long ago (Mt. 28:8;Mk. 16:8; Lk. 24:12). Our Easter worship is a dress rehearsal for our Lord Jesus' return when he comes to unite heaven and earth, making all things new (Eph. 1:10; Rev. 21:1-8).

And so, I invite you to a holy Lent. Take up the opportunity to dwell upon the grief of our broken world, the sin within your heart, and the deep love of God that exceeds these realities. Reflecting on the hospitality of God, consider the needs of your neighbor, especially those without life's basic needs. And, most importantly, in the gritty details of Lent, don't forget—Easter is coming!

Read The Rest. Follow Chuck Colson on Twitter 

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What Not To Say To Someone Who Is Suffering: Tchividjian sat down with Paul Tripp and Dave Furman to discuss things you shouldn't to say to a person in pain—many of which they've learned the hard way.

Making Disciples Of Women In A Post-Christian World: But true discipleship must happen in the spaces where we have no room to eject when our dearest idols are threatened. It may feel horrible in the moment, but for us to be changed by the Spirit , we are going to have to open ourselves up to the discomfort of true vulnerability.

Six Factors That Do Not Affect Inerrancy: Remember, just because it is in the Bible does not make it right. Inerrancy does not mean everything in the Bible is true, it just means that everything is accurate and everything being taught is true.

Biblical Womanhood For Pariahs: I am thinking today that Biblical womanhood is best understood when we understand it in our worst case scenarios. When we boil it down to what God most wants any of us to reflect about Himself regardless of the adjective in front of “woman” and then expand that back out to the specific circumstances in which we find ourselves, we are much better equipped to endure the waves of life that come at us at each stage as a woman after God's own heart.

How To Cultivate Encouragement In Your Church: So how can church leaders today cultivate encouragement among believers? I think the answer lies in valuing and modeling what's commendable by discussing it, teaching it, commending it when it appears, and rewarding it with consistency.

3 Things To Remember In Discussion With Doubters: My hope is that our churches will be places where we can have good, honest conversations about the questions that matter. Let’s learn how to talk about our faith in ways that strengthen those who are struggling.

Discipline In A Pornified Society: It isn’t the desire for excitement that is the problem. It’s the lack of delight-inspiring discipline that dries up the souls of such pleasure-addicted men. Discipline isn’t opposed to pleasure. Disciplined men have refined tastes. Disciplined men pursue a more permanent joy. They get to savor their marriages decade after decade. They guide their own sons into manhood and give their daughters’ hand over to real men. Their legacy can’t be contained in perishable experiences. They learn to gain freedom over themselves and they experience freedom, which is what every man really wants.

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Without This Your Missional Movement Will Fail: The fundamental way that we are going to see Jesus save people across the globe is through discipleship. That’s right, the good-old-fashioned, life-on-life, person-to-person, dirty, messy process of teaching people to obey all that Jesus has commanded. Showing people with our words and our lives how to follow and magnify the Risen Savior.

Nine Lies In The Not-Yet-Married Life: Tomorrow is Valentine's Day, perhaps one of the more polarizing holidays of our year. It's very fun and exciting for the love birds, too commercial and insincere for the skeptics, and sometimes especially lonely for the single...

How To Engage The Neighborhood: The basic principle behind this strategy is simple, and it's one any church can follow: engage your neighbors by taking an interest in what they care about. Building common ground is easy when you participate side-by-side in community organizations, service projects, family events, block parties, yard sales, and the like. Common interests are one of the most powerful tools for building friendships that can enable spiritual conversations to take place.

Why Are Our Kids Addicted To Social Media?: ...To an over-scheduled teen under constant parental surveillance “Turn off your phone” basically means “Go to your room and be alone.” That’s no good either. Without real, unstructured time with friends, kids can’t develop the healthy social interactions today’s adults long for them to have.

Holy Laughter: It is easy to look at what is going on in the world—wars and rumors of war, increasing hostility to biblical norms, persecution of Christians around the world, volatile elections, nuclear proliferation, terrorism, mass shootings—and to wonder what does God think of this? Doesn’t he care? Is he still on the throne? Doesn’t God see what is going on down here?

How To Create A Culture Of Evangelism: But in a culture of evangelism the work is grassroots, not top-down. In a culture of evangelism, people understand that the main task of the church is to be the church; they understand that church, just being biblical church, is a witness in and of itself. The church supports and prays for outreach and evangelistic opportunities, but the church's role is not primarily to run evangelistic programs. The members are sent out from the church to do evangelism, the church does not do evangelism.

The Gospel And Money: When God commands us to give it’s not because He wants your money. He wants your heart. When He commands us to be generous it’s not because He wants to take things from you. He wants to give you Himself. God doesn’t want the money out of your pockets. He wants the idols out of your heart.

How Can The Tired Mom Stay Connected To The Hubby: Most of the time, money is tight in this season as well, as you are trying to live off of one income and dad is trying to get his career started. Admittedly, these were tough years for us. Looking back, Grace and I did not get this right all the time. But we would offer the following suggestions as Grace thinks aloud and I type along:

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The Church 24/7:

Being in community isn't about going to an event each week, it is about life on life intentional discipleship with one another. But if you don't understand the gospel and its implications then joining a community will feel more like a duty than an enriching privilege.  

The Gospel:

“In its simplest form, the gospel is God’s reconciling work in Christ – that through the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, God is making all things new both personally for those who repent and believe, and cosmically as He redeems culture and creation from its subjection to futility.” - Matt Chandler

This gospel (good news) is the only truth that brings us together as Christians, it is the only truth that we gather around together, it is the only truth that calls us to give our lives for. The gospel is the objective reality that Jesus Christ came, He lived perfectly, He died our death and He rose from the grave to show off who He said he is. Jesus Christ is God in the flesh and it is because of this glorious gospel that we can even call ourselves Christians.

You see first and for most, the gospel is not primarily about you but it is about God and what he is doing to restore the world back to himself. It is because of the beautiful gospel that we are able to rightly view the world, ourselves and also the communities that we are apart of.

Love For God Drives The Love For People:

Loving God is not an obligation that we have, for through the work of the gospel we grow by grace more in love with God through the empowering of the Holy Spirit. For the Holy Spirit's job is to teach, train, transform us into the things of Christ. "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority...He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you (John 16:13-14)." Our love for God comes from God, our love for others comes from God. It is God's purpose to produce in His children genuine love, love that is not fleeting or fake but love that is true and everlasting. 

As fallen humans we can not truly orchestrate within ourselves a love for God and a love for others. If you are personally trying to love God out of your own obedience and not through the perfect obedience Christ worked on your behalf, you will truly be crushed. "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast (Ephesians 2:8-9)." Our love for God and love for others must be in response to God's grace in Jesus Christ. We cannot produce pure love for God and others, this type of pure love only comes from God and His desire is to change us to love like He loves us. 

Gospel Driven Community:

If you are a Christian, being a part of a community is biblical. How they look may vary by location, but over all God knows that we need community, and that is one of the reasons God orchestrated the church to come about. The Author wrote to the Hebrews, "And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near (Hebrews 10:24-25)." In this passage the author is addressing Christians and he is stating that as Christians we should not neglect meeting together regularly because we are put in community to encourage and strengthen one another.

Sinclair Ferguson says it well about the importance of community, "We are not saved individually and then choose to join the church as if it were some club or support group. Christ died for his people and we are saved when by faith we become part of the people for whom Christ died." The reason we constantly emphasize people to join a Gospel Community is because we truly believe that as Christians we were saved into a community. Community is where our discipleship in Jesus is worked out. Community is a place of safety, a place to share life together, a place to grow more in love with God and people.

The gospel has restored us to God and made us His sons and daughters, heirs to God and fellow heirs with Christ. Through the work of Jesus in the gospel, we get to be devoted to one another as family because Jesus devoted Himself to us. As a family of people saved by Jesus, Jesus now sends us on mission, just as Jesus was sent by the Father but we get to be sent on mission together and not alone. Gospel communities are built on the truth of the gospel that saves and restores people to God and brings them into His family as group of people commissioned by King Jesus to go into the entire world and make disciples of all nations—starting right in our own city and neighborhoods as GCs on mission for Jesus. Gospel Communities is a place where people grow as disciples of Jesus, while growing to make disciples of Jesus. 

Ultimately, this is why we desire for people to join Gospel Communities: to see God work in and through the community of people for His glory and our joy. 

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