As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
“…the longer we’re in church and the higher we go up the Christian ladder, the more likely it is that we’re stuck in the Christian bubble…. we need to recognize some of the signs that we’ve insulated ourselves from a world we’re called to reach.” - Chuck Lawless
“everything is not fine for many godly people and I want to convince you, whether you are one of those people or one of their leaders, that internal anguish and powerful inward temptations are actually normal according to the Bible’s account of Christian experience.” - London Lyceum
“Where did the idea of going to church originate? Some of the typical culprits suggested are Constantine, American business models, old people, or pastors desperately in need of jobs. But whose idea is it, really?” - 9 Marks
“Simply because a plural ‘you’ is used—because a community is being addressed—doesn’t exclude individual action. That said, an individualistic application of a plural “you” should not lead us to assume every plural “you” is meant for the individual. There is much more going on.” - 9 Marks
“On the podcast, Pastor Perry discusses his ‘seasonal’ approach to living on mission, detailing what it looks like to ‘Put your Yes on the table for the Lord’ and keep it there.” - MBU
“God intends for the beauty of brokenheartedness to mingle with the beauty of boldness so that a new reality emerges even more beautiful than the sum of both—a new reality called brokenhearted boldness. It is one of God’s most beautiful works. And it is one of the most needed in our day.” - Eternal Perspective
Google the phrase “What is success” and you will get 1.13 billion results. I’d like to examine each of those with you today (not really). Much has been said about success. Everybody seems to want it, but it is surprising how few actually can define it.
One dictionary defines success as “the accomplishment of an aim or purpose, the attainment of popularity or profit, or a person or thing that achieves desired aims or attains prosperity.” But what should be the aim or purpose? And how do we define prosperity?
Some suggest success changes with age:
“That misunderstanding of Isaiah 64:6 has caused many Christians to believe that it is impossible for a Christian to please God. If their best works are filthy rags, there’s nothing they can do to please him. This is a profoundly unbiblical notion through and through.” - John Piper
A while back I lost hearing in one ear. I made an appointment with my doctor and suggested the problem might be sinus pressure. He corrected me: my problem was earwax. After the physician removed the blockage, my hearing instantly returned.
But a strange thing happened: I was now hearing all sorts of things. When I walked, I could hear the fabric of my pants rubbing. I heard birds and trucks and high frequency noises that I didn’t remember hearing before. After a few days, my experience returned to normal and I heard just as I had before.
What happened? The answer is that my mind selectively targeted what to focus upon and what to blot out. It did this by habit.
Let me share two major advantages of habits, routines, and unwritten rules.
First posted at Sharper Iron on July 24, 2009. Larry Blumer, the “Dad” in this essay, went to be with the Lord August 17, 2011.
An old adage says that when you’re sixteen your dad doesn’t know anything, when you’re twenty-six he’s occasionally sensible, and when you’re thirty-six he’s one of the wisest people you know. I can testify that there is some truth in that observation. Though I still rarely seek my dad’s advice, it’s because—at age forty-three—I have come to realize how much of his advice I’ve already absorbed from growing up around him.
Our Savior bought us with His own blood in order to redeem us and remake us in His image. That transformation is central to His great gospel purpose. In my life, He used my dad to accomplish some important parts of that purpose.
I don’t think my dad sat down and planned, “I need to teach these four values to my kids.” He did it mostly by just being there and speaking his mind (sometimes with passion!) in the context of a life that made what he meant unmistakably clear.
Bob Jones Sr. was fond of saying, “The greatest ability is dependability,” but that concept was familiar to me long before I read it in high school. I remember hearing as a kid, “If you say you’re going to do something, you do it. If you say you’re going to be somewhere, you be there,” and other variations on that theme (See Prov. 25:19). Dad wasn’t trying to preach, but his words drove a biblical principle deep into my young mind.
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