Resources

The Tongue, the Bridle, and the Blessing: An Exposition of James 3:1-12

Desiring God 2008 National Conference
James 3:1-12
September 26, 2008
Sinclair Ferguson

For more resources from Desirng God please visit thier website at http://www.desiringgod.org
Please visit the 2008 National Conference site.

This is a great sermon given by Pastor Jim Laffoon of Every Nation Churches. He speaks about the need for a reconciled church, not a tolerant church. Lafoon points out that there will be people who do love Jesus but will think differently from others.  He proclaims that there is absolutly no room for bi-partisanship within the church, and that reconciliation can only start at the empty tomb of Jesus Christ. Listen to it here on B2C:

Machpelah-Releasing the Spirit of Increase Through Reconciliation
Jim Laffoon - November 11, 2008

Is this attainable?

The reality of death seldom hits college students in a culture that values youth. Whenever companies market to us, we see their image of what it means to be young and how we have the world before us. Additionally, other companies market to older folks selling them some cream that will supposedly make them look younger.

This, too, can permeate into our lives as Christians. A friend of mine shared with me the mentality of men looking forward to marriage and that gift being a primary concern on their minds. Many books that female authors write focus on biblical femininity alone.

In a sermon on (1 Peter 4:12-19), John Piper talks about how ludicrous our thoughts on death are. Because we underestimate the reality of death, Piper says, we can make statements like this:

A true Christian must be willing to say, “I will not renounce Christ, even if it costs my life.” But as soon as we say that, it makes a whole lot of things in our lives look ridiculous. I will die for you, but I can’t find time to sit and read your teaching each day. I will die for you, but prayer doesn’t seem real… One of the best ways to bring wonderful Christ-honoring changes into your life is to measure your way of life by your willingness to die for Jesus.¹ Read the rest of this entry »

1. Piper, John. “The Holy Spirit Will Help You Die.” Bethlehem Baptist Church. Minneapolis, MN. 10 June 1984. [↩]

Where do you run when you are under trial? To sleep and video games or to Jesus Christ? Trials are never anything that we want to go experience. Yet, our experience with them are a sweet and precious time to learn to lean on God only and to sanctified through the Son. Where we run to bring us comfort tells us what is dear to us. As C.H. Spurgeon put it: how deep the affliction we experience because of Christ’s “absence” in our lives, depends on how much we love him.

Please read or listen to this Spurgeon message entitled; “Night and Jesus Not There!” It is amazing and highly quotable. He extracts a lot from just one short line in John 6:17. The man who is reading the sermon is also very engaging and you forget that he is not the original speaker. Enjoy!

C.H. Spurgeon: Audio and PDF: Night and Jesus Not There!

Her Last Prayer

Girl

16 or 17 years old

Asia

1970’s

            The Communist soldiers had discovered their illegal Bible study.

            As the pastor was reading from the Bible, men with guns suddenly broke into the home, terrorizing the believers who had gathered there to worship. The Communists shouted insults and threatened to kill the Christians. The leading officer pointed his gun at the pastor’s head. “Hand me your Bible,” he demanded.

            Reluctantly, the pastor handed over his Bible, his prized possession. With a sneer on his face, the guard threw the Word of God on the floor at their feet.

            He glared at the small congregation. “We will let you go,” He growled, “but first you must spit on this book of lies. Anyone who refuses will be shot.” The believers had no choice but to obey the officer’s order.

            A soldier pointed his gun at one of the men, “You first.”

            The man slowly got up and knelt down by the Bible. Reluctantly he spit on it, praying, “Father, please forgive me.” He stood up and walked to the door. The soldiers stood back and allowed him to leave.

            “Okay, you!” the soldier said, nudging a woman forward. In tears she could barely do what the soldier demanded. She spat only a little, but it was enough. She too was allowed to leave.

            Quietly, a young girl came forward. Overcome with love for her Lord, she knelt down and picked up the Bible. She wiped off the spit with her dress. “What have they done to your Word? Please forgive them,” she prayed.

            The communist soldier put his pistol to her head. Then he pulled the trigger.

(From Jesus Freaks 1999, by DC talk and Voice of the Martyrs p.50)

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Miscellanies Blog

I am amazed daily by God’s grace in the life of the author of Miscellanies, Tony Reinke.  When I first found Tony’s blog a few years ago, he was posting about how to build a library and was talking about the value, benefits, and strengths of specific Puritans.  After that, he built a blank bible (if you do not know what this is, check it out on his blog) and gave step-by-step instructions on how to do so.  Since that time, he has been consistent in updating his blog with cross-centered book reviews, conference coverage, and encouraging expositions on God’s Word.  One thing is clear when reading his blog:  this man is charged with the love of God and he wants others to know about Him.

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Mark Dever discusses the gospel. From The Gospel Coalition Video Archive.

On this edition of the White Horse Inn, Michael Horton talks with R.C. Sproul, Chairman of Ligonier Ministries and author of numerous books including The Holiness of God, The Truth of the Cross, and Knowing Scripture. Mike & R.C. discuss many of the themes relating to the year-long WHI theme, “Christless Christianity,” and evaluate the overall health of Evangelical Christianity.

Desiring God and Crossway Books have come out with a new Small Group Discussion series [Video | Book | Study Guides] by John Piper.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYCyxgFbkzE]

Go check it out!  It should prove to be a great resource for small groups.  Enjoy!

“Take a minute to identify your ‘club.’ When you do, there’s a good chance you’ll see a pattern of what passion looks like in your life. Your passion is what you talk about, think about, and dream about. It’s what you give your time to without complaint. It’s what you find your identity in. It’s what you’re willing to sacrifice for.”
–Joshua Harris

In a biblical and practical voice, pastor and New Attitude founder Joshua Harris writes about the lack of passion for the bride of Christ in his fourth book “Stop Dating the Church!.” A short but helpful read, Harris addresses the dangers of overlooking the importance of the local church and presents a helpful guide to living, learning, serving, and loving the local Christian community.

While only 129 pages long, this book covers a wide range of problems with “dating” churches. Harris writes both in the second and first voice to connect with his audience on a personal level because, as he often states, this book is about a personal topic. “I won’t deny that there are problems,” he writes. “The sad reality is that there are churches and church leaders that grossly misrepresent Jesus Christ through their lives and teaching…But are those experiences really what hold us back from the local church?”
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We have just uploaded a new resource to help people memorize scripture and apply it to their daily lives.  This resource, known as Fighter Verses, has been created by Bethlehem Baptist Church under the guidance of John Piper.

Joshua 1: 8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

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Yesterday, I was listening to past broadcasts of the Albert Mohler show.  Russell Moore was filling in for Mohler while he was on vacation.  Every week the show does “Ask Anything Wednesday,” and last week a woman called in and stated she was a new believer.  She followed with a question many new believers struggle with: How do I read the bible?

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C. J. Mahaney recently posted a great little article about art and the gospel.  B2C often tries to promote cross centered art and creative writings, and this post helps outline our thoughts on the subject.  Check it out, it is very interesting and a good post:

http://www.sovereigngraceministries.org/Blog/post/the-gospel-and-art-christian-artwork-cj-mahaney.aspx

We might try to make this article a PDF and provide it in our resources in the future.

Enjoy,

-Ty

This is a great article written by Jon Bloom over at Desiring God. It really gets down to the essence of joy. Please go read it.

http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/1274_jesus_and_buddha_on_happiness/

I was recently listing to a message by Ligon Duncon at the Together for the Gospel (T4G) conference from earlier this year.  The title of his message was “Sound Doctrine.”  He spoke about the importance of sound doctrine and theology as we teach and preach.  We live in a world and age when many people do not believe in an absolute truth, and thus a new cultural trend is to drop off the doctrine and theology parts of Christianity in the church. 

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