EP*C

Persistent Prayer from Cornerstone Church on Vimeo.

Reading the New Testament, it’s clear that something is radically different when you compare Jesus and everyone else. The world is largely self-exaltation and self-preservation. Jesus has other ideas. Jesus is all about rejecting what is normal in this world for a life that’s focused on what God would have us do. This usually gets individuals in trouble; it’s kinda why Jesus was killed!

Matthew 5 says Christ-followers are the “salt of the earth” – but what does this mean? If you’ve been in church circles a while you’ve probably heard this phrase repeated and expanded on numerous times. Reading this passage again, it breaks down pretty simply for me.

Salt is a CHANGE AGENT. When salt comes in contact with anything, there is a change that comes about. Salt doesn’t just land on food or on pavement and leave that environment the same as before – it produces change. Salt is a CHANGE AGENT.

YOU are a CHANGE AGENT. When followers of Jesus Christ come into any environment, there is no way that the setting should remain the same. Jesus calls us to the same life that he lived. He calls us to be different from the crowd, whether getting strange glances for our opinion or praise for our loving actions, simply because of the truth of our faith and the action it causes.

How does this practically come about?

To be continued.

We recently finished up a 2-part series called ‘FANATIC’, looking at how each one of us is fanatical about something in our life.

As I think this morning about fanaticism, it is sad how our passion and energy can be diverted onto something that is not worthy of our all. As I watched this video, I realised once again - hopefully more deeply and more effectively than before – that there is only one person I should be fanatical about.

 There are definitely thousands upon thousands of ways to read the Bible. However you choose to plough through the Scriptures – and I would definitely encourage you to invest time into reading the Bible! – is up to the individual. The most important aspect of Bible intake however,  is what you believe to be the foundational message:

Law & Threat

vs.

Promise & Assurance

Here’s a great blog post from the Resurgence on this topic.

Typical summer reading is heavy on novels and narrative non-fiction. But if you want to shake up your summer selections, consider picking up one or more of these newly released, theologically informed books recommended by Christianity Today.

Click here to see the list.

Without doubt, Crazy Love is one of the best books I have read in my entire life. Francis Chan gracefully and truthfully unpacks what the Bible says Christianity actually looks like.

It’s uncomfortable, but very much worth it. Here’s an excerpt:

“Hear me clearly in this, because it is vital- in fact, there is nothing more important or eternal: Are you willing to say to God that He can have whatever He wants? Do you believe that wholehearted commitment to Him is more important than any other thing or person in your life? Do you know that nothing you do in this life will ever matter, unless it is about loving God and loving the People He has made?”

As we go through the God.Love.Sex series at Central on Sunday mornings, it’s appropriate to look at more resource that points us towards what godly sexuality looks like.

Here is a series of 3 posts from Josh Patterson at The Village Church looking at different issues around sex – Part 1, Part 2, Part 3. Take out a few minutes and check out what he has to say.

R.O.O.

Here’s an interesting post from the good people at ‘The Art of Manliness’.

Apparently one of the necessities to being sexy is being debt-free…you can read the rest of the article here.

Well, summer is almost here! Apart from taking some time to chill out and enjoy life, it’s worth investing some time into reading  solid books that will help build your faith.

This summer I’m purposely planning to read books that speak specifically about Jesus Christ, helping me to better understand who He is and all that He has accomplised for us. A fuller understanding of Jesus means a more in depth understanding of God – and who wouldn’t want that?!

The first book I’m planning on going through is ‘The Glory of Christ’ by John Owen. Owen was a 17th Century church leader and the leading theologian in his day. Here’s a great quote from the book:

“How, then, can we behold the glory of Christ? We need, firstly, a spiritual understanding of his glory as revealed in Scripture. Secondly, we need to think much about him if we wish to enjoy him fully (1 Pet. 1:8). If we are satisfied with vague ideas about him we shall find no transforming power communicated to us. But when we cling wholeheartedly to him and our minds are filled with thoughts of him and we constantly delight ourselves in him, then spiritual power will flow from him to purify our hearts, increase our holiness, strengthen our graces, and sometimes fill us ‘with joy inexpressible and full of glory.’”

Be sure to check out the book here – it’d definitely worth a read. 

R.O.O.