8.29.2007

now i feel smart

You've probably seen this already, but just in case...



...and a follow-up interview on the Today Show:

8.25.2007

college football schedule

Well, we're officially one week from opening weekend of NCAA football. Awesome. I can't wait for it to get started.

Last year, somebody emailed me an excel spreadsheet that had each team's schedule broken down by conference with cool helmet logos and everything. It was great to print out and put on the fridge. Anyway, I found it again this year at a Texas fan's blog and thought you might be interested.

Click here to download it.

8.23.2007

more free resources

Sovereign Grace Ministries has recently put all of their mp3 resources available for free download here. C.J. Mahaney, who founded and leads the ministry, is a wonderful preacher and has blessed the kingdom greatly through his teachings on the cross and on humility. I just downloaded his sermon, "A Biblical Understanding of Sleep."

In addition to Mahaney, you'll find free resources from Randy Alcorn, Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan, Wayne Grudem, Joshua Harris, Carolyn Mahaney, John MacArthur, Albert Mohler, John Piper, David Powlison, R.C. Sproul, and others.

Enjoy!

8.22.2007

the difference between clean and holy

I've recently been studying Leviticus. Yes, that's right, Leviticus. The book that has single-handedly derailed most of my "read the Bible in a year" plans. As I've gotten more into the book, I am seeing that there really are tons of relevant lessons for our lives today.

One of the more interesting things I've seen is the distinction between holy things (those which are totally set apart and devoted to God), clean things (those which aren't unclean or defiled), and unclean things (those which are dirty and defiled). What has stood out to me is that clean things are not necessarily holy things.

Simply avoiding unclean things did not make Israelites holy--it merely made them not unclean. Holiness came not through the avoidance of uncleanness but the pursuit of devotion to God and receiving his mercy. Nonetheless, we tend to view ourselves as holy as long as we aren't involved in any really unclean or defiling things.

God's command that "You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy" (Lev. 19:2) requires that we be devoted and obedient Jesus, who was holy in our place, and not that we merely avoid outright evil.

8.20.2007

TEAM discipleship

I haven't posted in just over a week, in part because I've been ramping up pretty seriously for TEAM Discipleship, which started this morning. TEAM Discipleship focuses on helping men grow as leaders and servants through:

Training,
Education,
Accountability and
Motivation.

The process requires commitment and work with weekly meetings, reading, and audio messages to listen to in addition to projects and training exercises.

For our first group, we're focusing 12 weeks on "Preaching the Gospel to Yourself." I am thrilled at the response and the opportunity. We've closed this current group at 44 men, ranging in ages from 15-75 years old, with lots of different backgrounds.

Please pray for us that God would use this process to help us change from the inside out as we apply the truths of the Gospel to our hearts.

8.12.2007

one approach to counseling

Here's an approach to counseling that I'd like to use sometime...

8.07.2007

intro to church history

It is widely believed that one of the important reasons to learn history is to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past. Nonetheless, few Christians know anything at all about Church History. As a result, the issues and events that have shaped the church into what it is today are largely a mystery.

Let me recommend to you Tommy Nelson's Lectures on Church History. These lectures were originally delivered as sermons at the church he pastors, Denton Bible Church. Nelson is a great, down-to-earth Bible teacher and is best known for his series on Song of Solomon. These church history sermons are largely based on Bruce Shelley's book, Church History in Plain Language.

I found these sermons to be very insightful, informative, and valuable. They put a lot of things in perspective and were easy to understand. I hope you'll download them and be as blessed by them as I have been.

Download them here.

8.01.2007

cnn/youtube debates

I don't know if you had a chance to watch any of the CNN / YouTube debates with the Democratic candidates, but I found many of the questions to be very interesting. Like all politicians, the answers were rather predictable, but it was fun to watch them answer the kinds of questions they don't normally get. It was also fun to see how creative people were in thinking of questions and the format they submitted them in. In case you missed it, you can see what you missed here. It looks like the Republicans will have a debate as well on September 17.