As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
Last time we noted that from the beginning we’ve been designed for fellowship, for interpersonal relationships—and that for our time in history, the church is a significant part of God’s plan for that. He even commands us to keep at it.
OK, if God says I’m supposed to fellowship, then I will.
“Spiritual mourning is laden with blessing, and we are to go after it and get as much of it in our lives as we possibly can. The more you know of this mourning, the more joy you will experience in your life.” - Colin Smith
As this year began I started a series on spiritual growth, which I called “On Building Spiritual Muscle.” The series focused on the key spiritual exercises that the Bible prescribes for spiritual health, exercises that Christians have generally called “the means of grace”: Scripture, prayer, and fellowship. The next series, “On Devotions,” focused on the first two of those means of grace, and particularly on our private practice of them.
“Prayer is not a spiritual power, but a means of communicating and conversing with an All-Powerful Person.” - Layton Talbert
“Thirdly, that we be prepared to receive his benefits with true gratitude of heart and thanksgiving, benefits that our prayer reminds us come from his hand” - DBTS Blog
Pastor Kevin Schaal wrote recently to address the question of whether recent events—and our times in general—signal Christ’s return to end human history. I agree with his conclusion on that question.
I want to respond to his introduction, though.
“there are two kinds of Bible poverty in the world: first, the poverty of those who don’t have God’s Word in their own language; and second, the poverty of being surrounded by Bibles, but not reading them.” - Randy Alcorn
“Church should be the place we sprint to when things are at their worst, not the place we avoid until we’ve got our Instagram-worthy Christianity back in place.” - TGC
The sluggard “finds a native habitat in every soul…. When the alarm buzzes, he paws the snooze. When a work project calls for relentless focus, he quietly opens a new browser tab. When some unwelcome duty faces us… counsels, ‘Tomorrow.’” - Desiring God
“The bad news is that the thought patterns of the web are so embedded into modern life that we cannot effectively avoid them. The good news is that the same responsiveness to the power of habit that makes online addiction so powerful also makes analog resistance effective.” - Desiring God
Discussion