Broken things need fixing – or so our every impulse tells us. Once upon a time, I bought a minivan for my growing family. It broke a lot. So I fixed a lot. It leaked oil, a lot of oil. Then its struts failed. Then the muffler fell off. Then the rear doors stopped opening. And the factory CD player got stolen. And the windshield cracked. And the driver’s seat ripped. And the lifters stuck so bad it sounded like machine gun fire. And the belts squeaked like screaming cats.

It took the sum of those automotive maladies to talk me out of trying to fix that old van. And on one cold Chicago morning, I did something far better than fix it, something long overdue that made my wife smile and the children rejoice. I bought a new van, and showed up at our apartment with some very good news: “The old has passed away; behold, the new has come!”

So it is with this broken down old world filled with broken down old people making up broken down old churches. As though to prove his due diligence, God spent a few thousand years offering fixes – a command to care for the poor here, a law against murder there. But when all fixes had failed and the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son. He bought a new van, and showed up in our world with some very good news: “The kingdom of God is at hand.”

See, Jesus is not the latest, greatest divine effort to fix the broken world. He is a new world. He is a new creation. He is a new van, a final replacement for that old, broken down lemon we’ve been driving around all these millennia.

When I ditched my old van, I snatched the license plates off it, bolted them onto the replacement, and drove down the road in a new van. God, likewise, takes our identity off our old man, bolts it to the life of his son, and we drive down the road in a new man.

[re-post. emphasis added. Mark Bergin pastors The Painted Door Church in Chicago and sits on the board for the Chicago Partnership for Church Planting. He likes reading books about how relentlessly and recklessly God loves the world. Connect with Mark on Twitter @MarkJBergin where he tweets, seasonally. Post Sunday Encouragement for Church leaders 8/18/2014 issue]

To His people the risen Christ says “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” (Revelation 3:20)

Ruth Paxson observed, “God, in His infinite grace, always takes the initiative in bringing us into a fuller experience of our inheritance in Christ. So the Lord Jesus stands outside the door of every unyielded room in your life seeking entrance. If He enters, the door must be opened from the inside.”

This is the theme of the classic booklet by Robert Munger, My Heart Christ’s Home. A PDF edition is available here: navigatorsdetroit.com/MHCH.pdf

– JBW

(re-posted from The Navigators)

Though God is infinitely far above our ability to fully understand, He tells us through the Scriptures very specific truths about Himself so that we can know what He is like, and be drawn to worship Him. The following is a list of 30 names and attributes of God. Use this guide to enrich your time set apart with God by taking one description of Him and meditating on that for one day, along with the accompanying passage. Worship God, focusing on Him and His character.

God is Jehovah. The name of the independent, self-complete being—“I AM WHO I AM”—only belongs to Jehovah God. Our proper response to Him is to fall down in fear and awe of the One who possesses all authority. —Exodus 3:13-15

God is Jehovah-M’Kaddesh. This name means “the God who sanctifies.” A God separate from all that is evil requires that the people who follow Him be cleansed from all evil. —Leviticus 20:7,8

God is infinite. God is beyond measurement—we cannot define Him by size or amount. He has no beginning, no end, and no limits. —Romans 11:33

God is omnipotent. This means God is all-powerful. He spoke all things into being, and all things—every cell, every breath, every thought—are sustained by Him. There is nothing too difficult for Him to do. —Jeremiah 32:17,18, 26,27

God is good. God is the embodiment of perfect goodness, and is kind, benevolent, and full of good will toward all creation. —Psalm 119:65-72

God is love. God’s love is so great that He gave His only Son to bring us into fellowship with Him. God’s love not only encompasses the world, but embraces each of us personally and intimately. —1 John 4:7-10

God is Jehovah-jireh. This name means “the God who provides.” Just as He provided yesterday, He will also provide today and tomorrow. He grants deliverance from sin, the oil of joy for the ashes of sorrow, and eternal citizenship in His Kingdom for all those adopted into His household. —Genesis 22:9-14

God is Jehovah-shalom. This name means “the God of peace.” We are meant to know the fullness of God’s perfect peace, or His “shalom.” God’s peace surpasses understanding and sustains us even through difficult times. It is the product of fully being what we were created to be. —Judges 6:16-24

God is immutable. All that God is, He has always been. All that He has been and is, He will ever be. He is ever perfect and unchanging. —Psalm 102:25-28

God is transcendent. We must not think of God as simply the highest in an order of beings. This would be to grant Him eminence But he is more than eminent. He is transcendent—existing beyond and above the created universe. —Psalm 113:4,5

God is just. God is righteous and holy, fair and equitable in all things. We can trust Him to always do what is right. —Psalm 75:1-7

God is holy. God’s holiness is not simply a better version of the best we know. God is utterly and supremely untainted. His holiness stands apart—unique and incomprehensible. —Revelation 4:8-11

God is Jehovah-rophe. This name means “Jehovah heals.” God alone provides the remedy for mankind’s brokenness through His son, Jesus Christ. The Gospel is the physical, moral, and spiritual remedy for all people. —Exodus 15:22-26

God is self-sufficient. All things are God’s to give, and all that is given is given by Him. He can receive nothing that He has not already given us. —Acts 17:24-28

God is omniscient. This means God is all-knowing. God’s knowledge encompasses every possible thing that exists, has ever existed, or will ever exist. Nothing is a mystery to Him. —Psalm 139:1-6

God is omnipresent. God is everywhere—in and around everything, close to everyone. “‘Do not I fill heaven and earth?’ declares the Lord.” —Psalm 139:7-12

God is merciful. God’s merciful compassion is infinite and inexhaustible. Through His provision in Christ, He took the judgment that was rightfully ours and placed it on His own shoulders. He waits and works now for all people to turn to Him and to live under His justification. —Deuteronomy 4:29-31

God is sovereign. God presides over every event, great or small, and He is in control of our lives. To be sovereign, He must be all-knowing and all-powerful, and by His sovereignty He rules His entire creation. —1 Chronicles 29:11-13

God is Jehovah-nissi. This name means “God our banner.” Under His banner we go from triumph to triumph and say, “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57). —Exodus 17:8-15

God is wise. All God’s acts are accomplished through His infinite wisdom. He always acts for our good, which is to conform us to Christ. Our good and His glory are inextricably bound together. —Proverbs 3:19,20

God is faithful. Out of His faithfulness God honors His covenants and fulfills His promises. Our hope for the future rests upon God’s faithfulness. —Psalm 89:1-8

God is wrathful. Unlike human anger, God’s wrath is never capricious, self-indulgent, or irritable. It is the right and necessary reaction to objective moral evil. — Nahum 1:2-8

God is full of grace. Grace is God’s good pleasure that moves Him to grant merit where it is undeserved and to forgive debt that cannot be repaid. —Ephesians 1:5-8

God is our Comforter. Jesus called the Holy Spirit the “Comforter,” and the apostle Paul writes that the Lord is “the God of all comfort.” —2 Corinthians 1:3,4

God is El-Shaddai. This name means “God Almighty,”the God who is all-sufficient and all-bountiful, the source of all blessings. —Genesis 49:22-26

God is Father. Jesus taught us to pray, “Our Father” (Matthew 6:9), and the Spirit of God taught us to cry, “Abba, Father.,” an intimate Aramaic term similar to “Daddy.” The Creator of the universe cares for each one of us as if we were the only child He had. —Romans 8:15-17

God is the Church’s head. God the Son, Jesus, is the head of the Church. As the head, the part of the body that sees, hears, thinks, and decides, He gives the orders that the rest of the body lives by. —Ephesians 1:22,23

God is our intercessor. Knowing our temptations, God the Son intercedes for us. He opens the doors for us to boldly ask God the Father for mercy. Thus, God is both the initiation and conclusion of true prayer. —Hebrews 4:14-16

God is Adonai. This name means “Master” or “Lord.” God, our Adonai, calls all God’s people to acknowledge themselves as His servants, claiming His right to reign as Lord of our lives. —2 Samuel 7:18-20

God is Elohim. This name means “Strength” or “Power.” He is transcendent, mighty and strong. Elohim is the great name of God, displaying His supreme power, sovereignty, and faithfulness in His covenant relationship with us. —Genesis 17:7,8

Sources: The Knowledge of the Holy, by A.W. Tozer; Names of God, by Nathan Stone; and God of Glory, by Kenneth Landon.

You may download a one-page version of the 30 Days of Praying the Names and Attributes of God here.

(re-posted from The Navigators)

Though God is infinitely far above our ability to fully understand, He tells us through the Scriptures very specific truths about Himself so that we can know what He is like, and be drawn to worship Him. The following is a list of 30 names and attributes of God. Use this guide to enrich your time set apart with God by taking one description of Him and meditating on that for one day, along with the accompanying passage. Worship God, focusing on Him and His character.

God is Jehovah. The name of the independent, self-complete being—“I AM WHO I AM”—only belongs to Jehovah God. Our proper response to Him is to fall down in fear and awe of the One who possesses all authority. —Exodus 3:13-15

God is Jehovah-M’Kaddesh. This name means “the God who sanctifies.” A God separate from all that is evil requires that the people who follow Him be cleansed from all evil. —Leviticus 20:7,8

God is infinite. God is beyond measurement—we cannot define Him by size or amount. He has no beginning, no end, and no limits. —Romans 11:33

God is omnipotent. This means God is all-powerful. He spoke all things into being, and all things—every cell, every breath, every thought—are sustained by Him. There is nothing too difficult for Him to do. —Jeremiah 32:17,18, 26,27

God is good. God is the embodiment of perfect goodness, and is kind, benevolent, and full of good will toward all creation. —Psalm 119:65-72

God is love. God’s love is so great that He gave His only Son to bring us into fellowship with Him. God’s love not only encompasses the world, but embraces each of us personally and intimately. —1 John 4:7-10

God is Jehovah-jireh. This name means “the God who provides.” Just as He provided yesterday, He will also provide today and tomorrow. He grants deliverance from sin, the oil of joy for the ashes of sorrow, and eternal citizenship in His Kingdom for all those adopted into His household. —Genesis 22:9-14

God is Jehovah-shalom. This name means “the God of peace.” We are meant to know the fullness of God’s perfect peace, or His “shalom.” God’s peace surpasses understanding and sustains us even through difficult times. It is the product of fully being what we were created to be. —Judges 6:16-24

God is immutable. All that God is, He has always been. All that He has been and is, He will ever be. He is ever perfect and unchanging. —Psalm 102:25-28

God is transcendent. We must not think of God as simply the highest in an order of beings. This would be to grant Him eminence But he is more than eminent. He is transcendent—existing beyond and above the created universe. —Psalm 113:4,5

God is just. God is righteous and holy, fair and equitable in all things. We can trust Him to always do what is right. —Psalm 75:1-7

God is holy. God’s holiness is not simply a better version of the best we know. God is utterly and supremely untainted. His holiness stands apart—unique and incomprehensible. —Revelation 4:8-11

God is Jehovah-rophe. This name means “Jehovah heals.” God alone provides the remedy for mankind’s brokenness through His son, Jesus Christ. The Gospel is the physical, moral, and spiritual remedy for all people. —Exodus 15:22-26

God is self-sufficient. All things are God’s to give, and all that is given is given by Him. He can receive nothing that He has not already given us. —Acts 17:24-28

God is omniscient. This means God is all-knowing. God’s knowledge encompasses every possible thing that exists, has ever existed, or will ever exist. Nothing is a mystery to Him. —Psalm 139:1-6

God is omnipresent. God is everywhere—in and around everything, close to everyone. “‘Do not I fill heaven and earth?’ declares the Lord.” —Psalm 139:7-12

God is merciful. God’s merciful compassion is infinite and inexhaustible. Through His provision in Christ, He took the judgment that was rightfully ours and placed it on His own shoulders. He waits and works now for all people to turn to Him and to live under His justification. —Deuteronomy 4:29-31

God is sovereign. God presides over every event, great or small, and He is in control of our lives. To be sovereign, He must be all-knowing and all-powerful, and by His sovereignty He rules His entire creation. —1 Chronicles 29:11-13

God is Jehovah-nissi. This name means “God our banner.” Under His banner we go from triumph to triumph and say, “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57). —Exodus 17:8-15

God is wise. All God’s acts are accomplished through His infinite wisdom. He always acts for our good, which is to conform us to Christ. Our good and His glory are inextricably bound together. —Proverbs 3:19,20

God is faithful. Out of His faithfulness God honors His covenants and fulfills His promises. Our hope for the future rests upon God’s faithfulness. —Psalm 89:1-8

God is wrathful. Unlike human anger, God’s wrath is never capricious, self-indulgent, or irritable. It is the right and necessary reaction to objective moral evil. — Nahum 1:2-8

God is full of grace. Grace is God’s good pleasure that moves Him to grant merit where it is undeserved and to forgive debt that cannot be repaid. —Ephesians 1:5-8

God is our Comforter. Jesus called the Holy Spirit the “Comforter,” and the apostle Paul writes that the Lord is “the God of all comfort.” —2 Corinthians 1:3,4

God is El-Shaddai. This name means “God Almighty,”the God who is all-sufficient and all-bountiful, the source of all blessings. —Genesis 49:22-26

God is Father. Jesus taught us to pray, “Our Father” (Matthew 6:9), and the Spirit of God taught us to cry, “Abba, Father.,” an intimate Aramaic term similar to “Daddy.” The Creator of the universe cares for each one of us as if we were the only child He had. —Romans 8:15-17

God is the Church’s head. God the Son, Jesus, is the head of the Church. As the head, the part of the body that sees, hears, thinks, and decides, He gives the orders that the rest of the body lives by. —Ephesians 1:22,23

God is our intercessor. Knowing our temptations, God the Son intercedes for us. He opens the doors for us to boldly ask God the Father for mercy. Thus, God is both the initiation and conclusion of true prayer. —Hebrews 4:14-16

God is Adonai. This name means “Master” or “Lord.” God, our Adonai, calls all God’s people to acknowledge themselves as His servants, claiming His right to reign as Lord of our lives. —2 Samuel 7:18-20

God is Elohim. This name means “Strength” or “Power.” He is transcendent, mighty and strong. Elohim is the great name of God, displaying His supreme power, sovereignty, and faithfulness in His covenant relationship with us. —Genesis 17:7,8

Sources: The Knowledge of the Holy, by A.W. Tozer; Names of God, by Nathan Stone; and God of Glory, by Kenneth Landon.

You may download a one-page version of the 30 Days of Praying the Names and Attributes of God here.

[A pastor recently told us of how his church has partnered with TrueLife.org. They printed business cards with the church’s name on it with a request to visit this seeker’s web site and to call the church/witness with their comments. It has been a valuable way to motivate believers to share their faith and to take advantage of the good quality, relevant answers given online.]

“TrueLife.org Is a unique non-profit Christian organization dedicated to showing the world that the Bible is true and reliable.TrueLife desires to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ effectively and lead people to a Bible-teaching church in their area. TrueLife uses online videos and other media, local conferences and evangelistic events to bring individuals to faith in Christ.

Why TrueLife.org?

“Christian beliefs are constantly challenged and shaped by many influences outside the church. Without adequate answers, confusion and crisis often results. When Jesse Connors, founder of TrueLife®, intersected the helpful knowledge of university and seminary professors with the Internet, TrueLife.org was born. Today, TrueLife® offers reliable answers from a biblical worldview via the Web that are non-threatening and easy to understand and directs people to church.
How does TrueLife answer questions?

“Answers are presented free of charge in an online video format by qualified experts in the fields of biblical studies, theology, history, philosophy, ethics and science. Using experts from across the world, TrueLife® answers life’s most challenging questions through interesting and engaging video and article formats.”

https://www.truelife.org

Re-post from Repairing the Foundations
“There’s never been a time when the necessity of church and fellowship has been called into question as much as today. I passed by a table of books one day and saw a title that struck me as odd. The title seemed to insinuate that there was a way to follow Christ without ever meeting together with the church body. Continue reading…

D. B. wrote,

Have you ever read Ecclesiastes by Philip Graham Ryken? I am reading it now.

Reply:

Ecclesiastes is so relevant for our existential, post-modern culture. There are timeless insights as the writer shifts from secular “glasses” (“meaningless, meaningless”) to faith glasses: “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.”(3:11)

A brief introduction is Why in The World am I Here? by Kurt De Haan available as a free PDF at RBC.

Yours in Christ,
John

How can you give an overview of the God’s timeline from creation to the end of prophetic history? Compass ministries has a narrated PowerPoint video that does just that. Check it ot here: http://compass.org/30/

What pastors need is a vital prayer life. And they need the intercession of others. Visit our site myprayerhelps.wordpress.com for encouragement in this relational conversation with God.

PastorsLine.com has a resource called “40 Ways Over 40 Days”. It is a free download intercession guide to assist in praying for pastors.

The apostle Paul exhorted, “…meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ…”(Col. 4:3).

a re-post from Brandon Cox:

Some of the spiritually healthiest people I know are in counseling. There seems to be some stigma around it, but getting help with our mental and emotional issues is really a matter of choosing to grow with the help of others. And the New Testament reveals a pretty neat idea in the mind of God … the church can be a growing body of compassionate counselors. If you’re a Christian, you need counseling from other Christians, and you need to offer counseling to others too.

continue reading…