“The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.”- Romans 8:6 John Ortberg continues Chapter 2 of Soul Keeping by discussing Dallas Willard’s understanding of the “parts” of the inner life, all integrated by the soul. Dallas uses a series of concentric circles to illustrate his […]
Part I of Soul Keeping focuses on what the soul is. In Chapter 1 (“The Soul Nobody Knows”), author John Ortberg asserts that soul is one of the most important words in the Bible. Yet, if the average man or woman on the street is asked to explain exactly what the word soul means, Pastor […]
Prayer (Dutton, 2014) Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God is the latest book by Timothy Keller, founder and pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City. Pastor Keller introduces the book by emphasizing that any book on the essentials of prayer must treat all three aspects: theological, experiential (devotional), and methodological. Prayer is […]
“For although they know God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him.”- Romans 1:21 Timothy Keller continues Chapter 12 of Prayer by noting that ultimately thanksgiving is a subcategory of praise. However, Pastor Keller states that if we’re going to make headway in the work of praise and thanksgiving, we must […]
“Wherever the soul of man turns, unless towards God, it cleaves to sorrow, even though the things outside God and outside itself to which it clings may be things of beauty.”- Augustine, Confessions As Timothy Keller begins Chapter 12 of Prayer, he states that another reason for the primacy of praise is that it has great […]
“If we pray without meditation, our own communion with God becomes poor and distant.”- Edmund Clowney Part Four of Timothy Keller’s book Prayer is entitled “Deepening Prayer”. In Chapter 10 (“As Conversation: Meditating on His Word”), Pastor Keller takes a close look at Psalm 1. He astutely notes that Psalm 1 is not a prayer […]
Today Timothy Keller concludes his discussion of the twelve touchstones of prayer with the final three touchstones, clustered under the heading “Where Prayer Takes Us”. 10. Self knowledge: prayer requires and creates honesty and self-knowledge. Pastor Keller notes that prayer must take us beyond humility into deep honesty with ourselves. Although honesty in prayer before […]
“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edge sword . . .”- Hebrews 4:12 In Chapter 4 (“Conversing with God”) of Prayer, Timothy Keller states that as a gift of the Holy Spirit, prayer becomes a continuation of a conversation started by God. As that conversation proceeds, Pastor Keller adds, […]
“There is no one who calls upon your name, who raises himself to take hold of you.”- Isaiah 64:7 As Timothy Keller continues Chapter 2 of Prayer, he states that in ancient times people appealed to a great man by taking hold of his cloak. Similarly, St. Paul sees prayer as a way to get […]
“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 […]
“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 […]