“God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble.”- Psalm 46:1 “And now for something completely different.”- John Cleese (Monty Python) In Chapter 6 of All In, author Mark Batterson states that Elisha made a statement of faith when he burned his plowing equipment to follow Elijah. By doing so, Elisha was […]
“So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his servant.”- 1 Kings 19:21 As Mark Batterson begins Chapter 6 (“Burn […]
In Chapter 5 of All In, author Mark Batterson states that all of us, like Abraham, have our Isaac- what we find our identity and security based upon. Pastor Batterson stresses that God will test us to make sure that we find our identity and security in the cross of Jesus Christ. If God’s gift […]
Sometime later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. The God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love- Isaac- and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”- Genesis 22:1-2 Mark Batterson observes in […]
“For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.”- Luke 9:24 In Chapter 3 of All In, author Mark Batterson counterintuitively asserts that he’s convinced it is true that the key to self-fulfillment is self-denial (shorthand for delayed gratification). That’s how we’ll discover that authentic […]
“Grace is radically unbalanced. It contains no but: it is unconditional, uncontrollable, unpredictable, and undomesticated- or else it is not grace.”- Tullian Tchividjian As Tullian Tchividjian (One Way Love) continues his discussion of Jesus’ meal at the home of Simon the Pharisee, he observes that, unlike the other dinner guests, we have compassion for the […]
Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have know who and what sort of woman is touching him, for she is a sinner.”- Luke 6:39 In Chapter 9 (“An Offensive gift”) of One Way Love, Tullian Tchividjian reiterates the concept […]
As Tullian Tchividjian continues Chapter 7 of One Way Love, he discusses what Timothy Keller refers to as “the freedom of self-forgetfulness”. When we spend more time being introspective than thinking about Jesus and what He’s done, Pastor Tchividjian notes, we shrink into ourselves. Freed from the burden of establishing our own self-worth, God’s one-way […]
“But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”- Philippians 3:7 “The gospel doesn’t just free you from what other people think of you, it frees you from what you think of yourself.”- […]
“But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in […]
In Chapter 4 (“I Fought the Law- and the Law Won”) of One Way Love, author Tullian Tchividjian revisits his earlier statement that when we lay down the law, exercise control, or offer “constructive” criticism, it’s an illusion to believe that real change will happen: “The law may have the power to instruct and expose, […]
In Chapter 3 of One Way Love, Pastor Tullian Tchividjian quotes Martin Luther’s characterization of the Law as “a voice that man can never stop in his life.” The Law has a power of its own: it accuses. Whether we consciously realize it or not, judgment and expectation are the root cause of much of […]