Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Before the ending of the day...

Enjoying the View
Before the ending of the day,
Creator of the world, we pray!
Your grace and peace to us allow
And be our guard and keeper now.
 
From evil dreams defend our sight,
From all the terrors of the night,
From all deluding thoughts that creep
On heedless minds disarmed by sleep.
 
O Father, this we ask be done
Through Jesus Christ, your only Son,
Who with the Holy Ghost and you
Shall live and reign all ages through.
-Ambrose image

Sunday, July 19, 2015

What’s Technology Really Doing to the Bible?

smartphone teen
Three reasons Bible engagement is down — and three ways we can change that.
by Rachel Barach
July 17, 2015

Excerpt:
For many of the nearly two billion smartphone users in the world, getting searchable Bible text in their language for free is merely a tap away. Digitization has meant mass distribution in the blink of an eye.

The American Bible Society’s State of the Bible 2015 study shows that 50 percent of Americans read the Bible online — that’s up 6 percent from the 2014 report.

Perhaps even more staggering is that all this Bible reading isn’t happening silently. Bible verses are being shared more than ever on Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks.

It’s no wonder polls show people believe that having the Bible available digitally has helped them read it more today than in years past.

But is Bible engagement actually happening in our digital world?

The truth is, all this digital accessibility, all the hours spent reading Scripture on our laptops and mobile devices, all of these verses broadcast out to our friends via social media may not be having the impact we might expect on Bible engagement and Christian maturity — on our understanding and application of Scripture, on biblical literacy, on our connection to church and Christian community, on our lens for seeing and serving a broken world.
 the rest image

Praying the Bible: Book Review

July 15, 2015
by Tim Challies

Excerpt: This book is premised on the existence of a very common problem: That prayer is difficult. “I maintain that people—truly born-again, genuinely Christian people—often do not pray simply because they do not feel like it. And the reason they don’t feel like praying is that when they do pray, they tend to say the same old things about the same old things.” I would guess that this resonates with you and that many of your prayers feel just like that. The repetition in your prayers can lead you to assume that your prayers are meaningless and having no effect. When you are bored with your prayers you stop praying. When you stop praying you feel like a spiritual failure and count yourself a second-rate Christians. It’s a familiar downward cycle.

Now the problem here is not with praying about the same old things. We have to pray regularly and repetitively about certain matters—personal holiness, family members, our church families, our unsaved neighbors and relatives, financial care and provision, health and safety, and so on. “The problem is not that we pray about the same old things; rather, it’s that we say the same old things about the same old things.” The problem, then, is one of method.

Full review

(I just ordered it- here on Amazon)

Friday, July 17, 2015

The incentive to peacemaking is love...

images of faith and devotion
The incentive to peacemaking is love, but it degenerates into appeasement whenever justice is ignored. To forgive and to ask for forgiveness are both costly exercises. All authentic Christian peacemaking exhibits the love and justice - and so the pain - of the cross. ...John R. W. Stott image

Saturday, July 4, 2015

Happy July 4th, 2015

O God, our help in ages past,
    Our hope for years to come,
    Our shelter from the stormy blast,
    And our eternal home.
 
Under the shadow of thy throne,
    Still may we dwell secure;
    Sufficient is thine arm alone,
    And our defense is sure.
 
Before the hills in order stood,
    Or earth received her frame,
    From everlasting, thou art God,
    To endless years the same.
 
A thousand ages, in thy sight,
    Are like an evening gone;
    Short as the watch that ends the night,
    Before the rising sun.
 
 Time, like an ever rolling stream,
    Bears all who breathe away;
    They fly forgotten, as a dream
    Dies at the opening day.
 
O God, our help in ages past,
    Our hope for years to come;
    Be thou our guide while life shall last,
    And our eternal home.
-Isaac Watts
(picture by Raymond Dague)
 
"If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land." -2 Chronicles 7:14