December 2011
7 posts
Lives of Repentance
Oh how the church and our communities would be transformed if this were more true of God’s people…
John Frame:
We need more Christians who will lead lives of repentance, for repentance always challenges pride.
If you’re coming to God daily to confess to him how much you have sinned, you will find it hard to pretend that you are holier than everybody else. You’ll find...
Suffering in Community and Our Common Responses
In the midst of your struggles do you ever feel like you are all alone? Have you been in a community where someone suffers and not known how to respond? If so, your experience is not out of the ordinary. Saints as old as Job, who some say is the one of the earliest Christian books, have gone through incredible suffering and felt like they have been abandoned by everyone who once loved them. The...
“But when the Bible speaks of love, it measures it primarily not by how much you...”
– Tim Keller, The Meaning of Marriage (via mikerusch)
Prayer: Gift of Gifts | Valley of Vision
This Christmas at the Austin Stone we are preaching through various prayers from the Valley of Vision. Few books have helped stir my prayers and worship like this one. If you don’t have a copy of these Puritan prayers buy it today, or ask for it for Christmas! The prayer below is the only prayer in the book specific to Christmas - it is called The Gift of Gifts:
O Source of all Good,
What...
God’s Heart For Orphans Conference →
September 2011
3 posts
All Theology Has Influence
This is a helpful quote on what our theology produces in us. Everyone has a theology, whether they realize it or not. What we believe about the nature and acts of God has a profound impact on our nature and how we act in this world.
“The Puritans made me aware that all theology is also spirituality in the sense that it has an influence… If our theology does not quicken the conscious...
“As a follower of Christ you are more broken and aware of your selfishness and...”
– Tim Keller
The Church’s Essence
“Mission” is not something the church does, a part of its total program. No, the church’s essence is missional, for the calling and sending action of God forms its identity. Mission is founded on the mission of God in the world, rather then the churches effort to extend itself.”
(p. 82, Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending of the Church in North America)
August 2011
10 posts
Reclaiming Adoption Study Guide →
Hope for Orphans Institute →
An Opportunity to Partner with Chosen Marathon for... →
“We tend to say that because a person has natural ability, he will make a good...”
– Oswald Chambers (via wordshapedlifesongs)
“Jesus came to bring the good news to the poor, not to those who serve the poor.”
– Jean Vanier, ‘From Brokenness to Community’, p. 20
Register for Together for Adoption National... →
July 2011
2 posts
Look Who’s Blooming! →
June 2011
5 posts
“Waiting for the adoption.
Romans 8:23
Even in this world saints are God’s...”
– Spurgeon - Evening, June 23
6 tags
May 2011
2 posts
Jehovah-jireh →
April 2011
4 posts
A letter from your future son-in-law →
This is an excerpt from the letter sent from Adoniram Judson (missionary to Burma for 42 years) to John Hasseltine, the father of Ann, the woman Judson wished to marry.
“I have now to ask whether you can consent to part with your daughter early next spring, to see her no more in this world? whether you can consent to her departure to a heathen land, and her subjection to the hardships and...
March 2011
11 posts
Everything You Want to Know and More about the... →
“I think the reason the church is not good at telling stories is because we’ve...”
– Practitioner #4 (via mikerusch)
Big Themes Work out in Small Scenes
When you get to know a person well, you come to know both the panorama and the details. But change walks out in the details. The patterns, themes, and tendencies are like the view from the observation deck of the Empire State Building. From one hundred floors up, everything spreads serenely before you. But the action and noise of life happens at the corner of 5th Avenue & 34th Street and...
February 2011
5 posts
Wedding Gifts and Adoption →
Link →
Idea Camp Orphan Care Feb 25th & 26th in NW... →
Annual Report on Intercountry Adoptions →
Adopted for Life →
“This life, therefore, is not righteousness but growth in righteousness,
not...”
– Martin Luther