The following is a mad lib from Kevin DeYoung’s intro to the book Why We Love the Church. The institutional church is so (pejorative adjective). When I go to church I feel completely (negative emotion). The leadership is totally (adjective you would use to describe Richard Nixon) and the people are (noun that starts with… Continue Reading
Monthly Archives: April 2010
Do You Want Jesus Without the Church?
If so, that is like wanting a head without the body. In the intro to the book Why We Love the Church, Kevin DeYoung makes reference to what he calls a “decorpulated Christianity”. To summarize… 1. Christ is the head of the church (Eph. 1:22-23, 5:23) 2. “If decapitation, from the Latin word caput, means… Continue Reading
Holding Back From Committing to the Local Church
Our generation faces obstacles in committing to a local church. In his book, Stop Dating the Church, Joshua Harris outlines three reasons why he believes the biggest obstacles aren’t problems in the church, but problems in us. 1. We’ve adopted self-centered attitudes. We’ve believed the lie that we’ll be happier the less we sacrifice or… Continue Reading
DeYoung on Disappointment in the Church – 3
The following is from Kevin DeYoung’s blog “DeYoung, Restless, Reformed” posted April 9th, 2010. As for the hurting and disappointed, before you criticize your leaders ask yourselves these questions: 1. Did I ever ask for help? Pastors and elders are not omniscient. Even with the best shepherding strategies people will fall through the cracks. So… Continue Reading
DeYoung on Disappointment in the Church – 2
The following is from Kevin DeYoung’s blog “DeYoung, Restless, Reformed” posted April 9th, 2010. Pastors and elders, the next time you are criticized for being unloving or unconcerned, ask yourselves: 1. Do we have some mechanism for personally knowing our sheep? As leaders, we will give an account for how well we watched over our… Continue Reading
DeYoung on Disappointment in the Church – 1
The following is from Kevin DeYoung’s blog “DeYoung, Restless, Reformed” posted April 7th, 2010. “No one supported me.” “I didn’t matter to anyone.” “You didn’t even care.” Those are among the hardest things a pastor can hear from his congregation, whether it’s about him directly or not. These lines are also some of the most… Continue Reading
Piper on boasting only in Christ when applying for a job
The following is an edited transcript of an “Ask Pastor John” audio How do I boast only in Christ when applying for a job? I think there’s an external boast and an internal boast. Internally, as you offer yourself with your skills—and that’s what they’re getting at: you have to sell yourself to get a… Continue Reading
Ken Currie on $
Ken Currie gave the talk about money at the March 27th Senior Connection. He provided very helpful perspective and his notes are below. “Finances” 1. Reality You are likely to make more money in the coming year than you have ever made in your life. Jesus talked more about money than he did about hell… Continue Reading