As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
Read the series.
I groaned when I read the first sentences of a WORLD magazine article that appeared a while back: “My husband lost a week’s pay. It must have fallen out of his pocket at the hardware store.” I’d sure hate to be that guy! I don’t even want to think about what losing a week’s pay would do to my family’s budget.
“Floating among the beautiful fish, turtles, eels, and sharks, and even enjoying that unforgettable ninety minutes of swimming with Molly the monk seal, I lost myself in these creatures and the God who made them. I forgot about myself, my shortcomings, others’ failings, and my disappointments.” - Randy Alcorn
“Markos teaches by example as he presents a dialogue based on a lively conversation he experienced over Thanksgiving dinner with guests of various faiths. Through stories and conversations, he helped people wrestle with their objections to Christianity. More significantly, he shows us how we can do that too.” - TGC
“ ‘Pastor, pastor—I just met my surgeon, and guess what? He is a CHRISTIAN!’ I must bite my tongue in the moment, but I’m thinking to myself, ‘But is he a good surgeon?’” - P&D
“Though this survey does not include every angle from which to view friendship (e.g., the ‘one another’ passages), this survey does provide a fairly good idea of the Bible’s theology of friendship.” - P&D
When my dad was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer years ago, I experienced a faith-collision. On the one hand was the strong likelihood that glioblastoma was going to take his life within two or three years. On the other was the fact that “with God, all things are possible.”
Of course more than one of us asked God to heal Dad. We asked God to use the medications, to lead us to some undiscovered cure, to make surgery more effective than it normally is for this disease.
In my office I have an old grandfather clock that was given to me by my grandparents. On the face of the clock it says, Tempus Fugit, Latin for “time flies.” It’s so true, isn’t it? So, how can we make sure that we don’t waste our lives, but instead live for the Lord with joy and gladness? Moses instructs us in this psalm.
“It’s immediately obvious how to write books, adjudicate laws, or teach students in distinctly Christian ways; it’s less obvious how to cut grass or tighten a pipe fitting in ways that move society towards further righteousness.” - P&D
“If you can explain what is going on, then God isn’t doing it.”
It’s a great sound byte. Several respected Christian leaders have taught it. And it certainly feels true. In many congregations it would be a reliable “amen!” line. However, not only is the statement itself false but it reflects a damaging and unbiblical way of thinking about faith and Christian living.
“some of the most difficult decisions parents will ever make are the decisions about how to educate their children, since for most parents, they will have to regularly revisit the matter as their lives change, as their family grows, and as different options become available or unavailable.” - Challies
Discussion