“If you, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared.”- Psalm 130:3-4 In Chapter 7 (“Rules for Prayer”) of Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God, Timothy Keller discusses four rules of prayer in John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion. […]
At the end of Chapter 6 of Prayer, Timothy Keller shares one final exercise Martin Luther advocates before we pray free-form about the things on our hearts. Following meditation on Scripture, Luther suggests praying through each petition of the Lord’s Prayer. As we do so, we are to paraphrase and personalize each petition using our […]
Part Three of Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God is entitled “Learning Prayer”. Timothy Keller states that the rest of his book will address the practical questions regarding prayer. In Chapter 6 (“Letters on Prayer”), the author turns to three of the greatest teachers (in his opinion) in the history of the Christian church- St. Augustine, […]
“The Bible does not present an art of prayer; it presents the God of prayer.”- Edmund Clowney, “A Biblical Theology” Timothy Keller concludes Chapter 4 of Prayer by emphasizing that God must be the starting point of prayer. Otherwise, our own perceived emotional needs drive our prayers, becoming our sole focus. We should, Pastor Keller […]
“For through him (Christ) we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.”- Ephesians 2:18 As Timothy Keller concludes Chapter 3 of Prayer, he emphasizes that prayer can be much more than superficial conversation (where there isn’t much self-disclosure) with God. Some conversations go deep. That happens when we reveal not just information but our very […]
In Chapter 2 of Prayer Timothy Keller focuses on the hardness (difficulty) and the centrality of prayer. He cites The Still Hour, a classic book on prayer by nineteenth-century American theologian Austin Phelps. Phelps began with the premise that “a consciousness of the absence of God is one of the standing incidents of religious life.” Pastor […]
“We are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”- Ephesians 2:10 (NLT) Today’s blog is based on an excerpt from the book Soulprint by Mark Batterson. Tomorrow I’ll begin a series of posts discussing Timothy Keller’s newly published book […]
AHA (David C. Cook, 2014) AHA: Awakening. Honesty. Action. is the latest book by Kyle Idleman, teaching pastor at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky. Kyle bases this book on the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15). Pastor Idleman emphasizes that AHA is the antithesis of a self-help book. While we are aware that […]
“The bad son was lost in his badness, but the good son was lost in his goodness.”- Timothy Keller, The Prodigal God Kyle Idleman continues Chapter 13 of AHA with two descriptions of what an older brother is like, because older brothers have a difficult time seeing themselves as someone in need of AHA. 1. […]
“For this my son was dead, and is alive again, he was lost, and is found.” And they began to celebrate. Now his older brother was in the field . . .- Luke 15:24-25 In Chapter 13 (“Lost in the Father’s House- The Final AHA”) of AHA, Kyle Idleman reminds us that the Parable of the […]
“Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow . . . have lighted fools/ The way to dusty death.”- William Shakespeare, Macbeth Zaccheus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times […]
“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave it to her husband who was with her, and he ate.”- […]