Ending the Year Well
Wow. Well, that was quick. Seems like Christmas was just yesterday. Wait, it was! Lame jokes aside, it’s the perfect opening for a quick meditation on what to do in the weird holiday zone between Christmas and New Years’ Eve. Many people are still on holiday, vacation and may still have a couple more Christmas parties on the docket, but by large, most of us have turned our focus on to the party that is New Year’s Eve. → Read more...
I Can’t Do It All, But God Can!
A little background first: My sixteen-month-old son, Caleb, has an enduring fascination with lights. Streetlights, lamps, desk lights, parking lot lights, hallway lights, you name it, he loves them all. He loves pointing them out to me and his mother. Whenever there is a light that is off and he notices, he asks us to turn it on by using the American sign language form of the word “please” that we taught him. When we turn it on, he looks at it with a look of sheer, absolute, innocent delight and then looks at us with the same look. → Read more...
Living For Tomorrow
Last week, I mentioned that the staff at Calvary have been reading a book together called Crazy Love by Francis Chan. I said that this book contains some of the simplest, but most powerful theology that I’ve encountered. One of the reasons for this is that Francis’ writings have a deep scriptural truth to it. He just doesn’t use scripture to back up what he’s saying, he also sometimes quotes other Christian thinkers and theologians. One of them is C.S. → Read more...
Crazy Love
The staff at Calvary have been reading a book together called Crazy Love by Francis Chan. This book is a wonderful love letter to God and contains some of the simplest, but most powerful theology that I’ve encountered. I highly recommend it for Christians at all levels. One of the more illuminating things that the book has helped me understand more clearly is how big, deep, and wide is God’s love for me, a sinner. It’s not just a simple thought that can be easily grasped. → Read more...
Kinsman-Redeemers
I just finished reading the book of Ruth last week. It’s a beautiful short story, only four chapters long, set in the dark times of the Judges, the time period in Israel’s history after Joshua had taken them to the Promised Land. Even though the story of Ruth and her mother-in-law Naomi is short, there is a lot of things to unpack from it and learn from it. The book of Ruth is essentially about redemption and rescue from despair and emptiness to a place of hope and fullness, something that God has promised and provided for through Jesus Christ. → Read more...
Dependence
This is a guest post written by my wife, Amanda, about a month and a half ago. I thought it was lovely and resonated with me. I hope you think the same. -Matt There’s a lot of things that I’ve noticed about the human experience since I’ve had a baby. My son is now 9 months old, and as curious and mobile as any parent would love or dread, depending on how you look at it. → Read more...
Don’t Forget (Parentally), Pt. IV
Remember the days of old; consider the generations long past. Ask your father and he will tell you, your elders, and they will explain to you. – Deuteronomy 32:7 Part I Part II Part III Over the past few weeks, I’ve used Deuteronomy to help guide our thinking about how important it is for us to teach our contemporaries and the generations that come after us about the reality, truthfulness and wonder of God and the story He’s written about Himself and His Creation. → Read more...
Don’t Forget (Parentally), Pt. III
“Their children, who do not know this law [God’s commandments], must hear it and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.” – Deuteronomy 31:13 “Take to heart all the words I [God] have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. They are not just idle words for you – they are your life.” → Read more...
Don’t Forget (Nationally), Pt. II
“When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. → Read more...
God’s Will vs. You
January 16, 2014
Calvary
Comments Off on God’s Will vs. You
Matt
I’m currently knee-deep in the book of 1 Samuel. If you haven’t read this particular book, it’s a very harrowing read about the rise and fall of Israel’s first king, Saul, and the lengths he goes to fight against God’s will. The book opens with a brief prelude about the birth of the man that this book is named after, the prophet Samuel. Through God’s leading, Samuel anoints Saul to be the first king that would unite the fractured nation of Israel. → Read more...
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