Filed under: Evangelism
by Travis Maples
Charles Spurgeon, in the quotes below, traces the roots of the success he experienced in his ministry to the zeal and passion in the members of his church for evangelism.
“…so many of them are on the watch for souls. There is one brother especially who is always looking after any hearers who have been impressed. I call him my hunting dog, and he is ever ready to pick up the birds I have shot and bring them to me.”(P. 130)
“We need a body of sharpshooters to pick out their men one by one. When we fire great guns from the pulpit, execution is done, but many are missed. We want loving spirits to go around to deal with the individual cases in the singular by pointed personal warnings and encouragement. “(P 169)
Are we “bird-doggin” at our churches? Are we sharpshooters for our pastors? The pastor can blast away from the pulpit his “great gospel gun” but he will miss some. I want to be that kind of man who will be on the lookout not only on the streets but in the pews as well. The oppurtunities for evangelism are often right under our noses in the place we would think to look last, seated next to us in church.
Filed under: Humor
Here are some pictures we put together with the VFC guy interns. This is what we would look like if we switched hair styles with each other. Who do you think looks the best? Grumpy Old Man Walt, Suave Todd, Chia Kevin, or Lord of the Rings Mike?
(You can click on the picture to see a larger view)
by Mike Plewniak
Usually on Fridays, we walk thru “The Godly Man’s Picture” by Thomas Watson. I’m taking a break for several weeks from this study so I wanted to give you another great resource for becoming a godly man. It is “The Fruitful Life” by Jerry Bridges.
I just finished reading this book and would highly recommend it to you. Dr. Bridges is writing about the fruit of the spirit that we find in Galatians 5:22-23: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” When I first saw this book, my thought was, “If Dr. Bridges wrote on the fruit of the spirit, I’m going to get that stinkin book because this man IS the fruit of the spirit.” (that may be overstated, but it’s what I thought). He is one of the most godly men that I have had the privilege to meet and learn from.
This book is a wealth of wisdom on how to put to death the “lusts of the flesh” and live by “the fruit of the Spirit.” He begins the book by looking at our motivation and he makes this statement: “Devotion to God is the only acceptable motive for actions that are pleasing to God.” He establishes our devotion as our response to his abundant and amazing grace that He poured out in saving us from our sins and his wrath. He writes about being completely devoted with all of our lives to serving God and also being completely dependent upon God for any change that takes place. The fruit of the Spirit is something that must be done in us and also something we are commanded to put on.
The highlight of the book for me was the chapter on faithfulness (it’s also worth the price of the book for these few pages). Also, Dr. Bridges writing on self-control (which every young man should read), humility, and gentleness, are some of the best chapters I’ve seen on those topics.
We talk alot about putting off sin and this is a great resource, maybe the best, on what we are to put on in it’s place. As John Murray says, “Whatever esle we may have, if we do not have character we have nothing. It is character that determines destiny.” Bridges writes, “If we are not growing in godly character, we are regressing; in the spiritual life we never stand still.” Let us grow in displaying the infinite value of knowing God by pursuing holiness in putting to death our old self and putting on the new self, “created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:24).
Filed under: Humor
by Mike Plewniak
Now, here is something for men I could get excited about…silverware combined with tools. It has multiple functions….eat some cereal and tighten a bolt. Munch on some mac and cheese while you tune-up your lawn mower. For those of you who actually use silverware instead of your hands, check it out.
Why dogs are mens best friend, and the video to prove it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNUC_KtQRuU
Cats… well we don’t like cats.
Other news…
– A Mute Math band reveiw. I am on a Mute Math kick right now and I hope that they come out with another album soon. If you are a fan of British rock you will love this band!
– 300 has apparently set the standard for creative film. I want to see it in the theater, but I don’t think it will serve my soul. here’s a review .
– Pastor shot dead while praying in Trinidad
-Docmoles
Filed under: Media
by Mike Plewniak
I found this over at the ESV blog and thought it was really cool.
“The folks at OpenBible.info have geocoded the Bible. In other words, they went through the Bible and found the latitude and longitude of nearly all the places mentioned.
They’ve produced satellite maps and KMLs (for Google Earth) for every book in the Bible that mentions a place, and KMLs for every chapter.”
So basically, you can go thru any chapter of the bible and this website will show you the location of any places that are mentioned or where that chapter is taking place geographically.
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A great book on this, if you are interested, is the “New Bible Atlas”.
Filed under: Leadership
By Walt Alexander
Last week, I posted on laziness. To overcome our laziness, we must put on diligence. We must consider the days evil and number them. We must be wise and be diligent.
As men, the number one area we need to cultivate diligence is in our relationship with God, in our communion with God. Cultivating other areas first will probably end in self-sufficiency. We must cultivate it here first to remind ourselves of our need for God to be diligent in other areas.
Listen to Paul’s exhortation to Timothy in 2 Tim 2:15.
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.
In this passage, Paul is challenging Timothy to be a man of the word, not tossed by the ideas and quarrels of the world. This is how Timothy is to avoid error and avoid false doctrine, by studying the word of truth. Also, Paul is challenging him to present himself to God. Paul is reminding him of a future day when he will see God face-to-face – a day in which he will either be approved by God or punished by God. Paul is reminding him to live today to be approved that day.
What is of value today that will be of value that day? How can we please Him today and please Him that day?
Also, Timothy would have been all to familiar that That Day is fast approaching. Throughout these two letters, Paul continually reminds Timothy the “last days” that are now and of the return of the King. We too must be aware that this day of judgment is fast approaching. Jesus is returning to collect the redeemed and to punish the wicked. All things will be revealed that day. All hidden things will be made known. All that we live for will be plain as day. Let us not then be ashamed.
This is our number one priority – to be disciple of Jesus Christ and to please Him with our lives. There is nothing of greater importance. It doesn’t matter your occupation, your G.P.A., your salary, your gifting. One thing matters. Oh, that we might cultivate diligence in this area first. Oh, that we might be approved by God by making this our number one priority.
Finally, God is in the battle. He is working for you. He is giving grace to you. “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” (James 4:8)! He desires to increase your delight in Him and in His Word!
Filed under: Humor
I think we should discuss food, gentlemen. Over the past few years, I have gone through so many diet phases. Low carb, no carb, high carb, only carb, fat free, low fat, low sodium, low sugar, no soda, organic/natural/whole grain-no grain food kicks (by the way, dieting is so hilarious. I mean, if you avoided all the things that could be potentially fattening or health harming, you couldn’t eat anything, except water or condensed air wafers.) I’ve done them all in some form or fashion. You may be just like me, though: The primary limiting factors on my diet are money, health, and my own laziness. Only secondary is a concern to preserve a remnant of masculinity in my eating habits. This must be changed, and I need your help!
Lately, my man eating has been dominated by a childhood favorite: The Sloppy Joe. I love them and cannot get enough of them. I think I ate 9 of them last week. (Seriously) Bread, meat and that wonderful marinara/salsa-esque sauce. MmmmmBoy! I like to put shredded cheese and a few dill pickles on mine. (Oh yes)
So, what about it, men? What foods do you think are particularly manly? What makes food masculine? Are steaks, chicken, and pork chops the only acceptable meats for men to eat? What about fish? (My personal conviction is that not all fish is fairy, but some are more fairy than others. I might get beat up over this, but Salmon just seems really feminine to me. Its pink, and comes in little bitty portions. Shrimp is kinda girly too. Discuss.) Does how the food was obtained have any bearing on whether it is masculine or not? (like certain fish that are feminine: is it ok to eat feminine fish if you catch it yourself and cook it over a fire?) What foods do you guys think promote masculine times of “fellaship” or hang out time? In other words, what foods do you love eating when kickin’ back with the bros? Do you have any questions about certain foods? Are you a dieter? Do you “live the organic lifestyle”? What about restaurants? What restaurants are good and manly, which ones are neutral, and which ones should be avoided at all costs?
Kevin
Filed under: Devotions
by Jonathan Oldacre
Tonight Melanie and I settled in for a Sunday night tradition: the “Snack Dinner” and “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” My wonderful wife creates a meal of all our favorite snack foods (Ritz crackers, sharp cheddar cheese, vegetables and ranch dip, Baked Cheetos, apple slices, etc.) and we watch this show on ABC. Now, we used to really like the show, but after the bazillionth time it’s kind of losing its shock factor. There are only so many creative ways to destroy an old house and create a mansion in its place, only so many free trucks given away, only so many country fund-raising concerts to be endured (country music being yet another product of the fall). One thing that repeatedly stands out in the show is a pronounced vocabulary of deserving. It’s nearly comical how many times they talk about such-and-such “deserving this reward” or “we love to help deserving families” or “I can’t think of someone who deserves this more” or you hear kids who were once perfectly content playing in a shabby front yard with minimal toys now brain-washed into saying things like “…now I can just be a kid, thanks ABC!”
Don’t get me wrong. I think it’s wonderful to help those in need, to give to the poor, to show kindness and compassion to those who are downcast…however, this show begs the question, “What do we really deserve?” Here’s the truth: In light of our sinfulness and God’s holiness, what you and I truly deserve is hell. Eternal wrath, and fire, and punishment forever. I understand the trickiness of discussing real suffering and poverty in America, but to reinforce the idea that we’re entitled to or deserving of anything other than the wrath of the Holy One is absolutely absurd and worldly.
So in light of the constant bombardment from the world telling us that we deserve a break, or we deserve to indulge, or we deserve a nice house, wife, family, car, an easy life, no sickness, no difficulty, a good salary,…fill in the blank, let’s go on the offensive and specifically apply the gospel! Here are some thoughts for application:
1) Let’s let every mention of the word “deserve” bring us humbled to the foot of the Cross where we see Christ hanging in our place receiving what we actually do deserve so that we could receive what He earned. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.” (2 Corinthians 8:9)
2) Regarding TV; Talk to it! Tell it, “That’s ridiculous! That is such a worldly way of thinking! As if life were all about me and what I want and think I deserve, that’s arrogant and proud! God thank you that you never give me what I deserve and I’m always doing better than I deserve!”
Thank God for the gospel today!
Filed under: Humor
by Mike Plewniak
This new creation takes it to new levels.
“The Wave Chaise is a multifunctional chaise longue concept designed by Roberta Ramme and incorporates everything a person would ever want in the comfort of a chaise longue. It has a built in TV, DVD player, CD player, phone, study, internet, etc.”
Manspeak 