Calvin Coolidge
Christmas is not a time or a season but a state of mind. To cherish peace and good will, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas.
Reading The Bible Daily
One Of The Foundational Keys To Discipleship
As a minister, one of the questions I hear most frequently concerns spending time in God’s Word. How often should I read? How much? Questions like these surround developing the discipline of Bible reading.
Simply put, a disciple is one who follows someone. In more exact terms, a disciple is one who desires to become as much like Jesus Christ as possible.
The best way to do this is by spending time with him. But how do you spend time with someone who walked the earth physically a couple of millennia ago? He isn’t here physically to have a conversation with, so what do you do?
The next best way is to spend time with those who knew him best, or in his own thoughts and writings. This is the primary reason we have God’s Word in our lives. He isn’t physically here to speak to us face to face, but he did leave a very detailed set of books that describe his nature and character to us so that we can be as much like him as possible.
Reading the Bible daily is one of the most important aspects of being a disciple. In fact, it is not a stretch to state that unless you are not spending time in God’s Word on a daily basis, or at the very least, a consistently frequent basis, you cannot be growing spiritually. It’s as simple as that.
Coffee Break – 12.14.2015
Your Monday Dose Of Inspiration - Christmas List Edition
The holidays are just around the corner. If you haven’t yet finished your Christmas shopping, here are a few lists you might want to consider as you do so. This entire installment of Coffee Break is dedicated to helping you find the perfect (coffee) gift for your favorite coffee drinkers!
Though most of these are coffee related, there are a couple of lists that are more general in nature. Enjoy! I hope you find what you need. And, Merry Christmas!
The Coffee Geek – This annual list of coffee goodness comes in three installments, based on price range. Check out the book recommendations at the bottom of the $35 page!
The Coffee Compass – Here is a great list of coffee items, covering a wide variety of stuff and prices.
Dear Coffee, I Love You – DCILY’s list is more eclectic than some of the others, but just as fun. I especially love the Pink Floyd/Chemex mashup T-shirt. That’s pretty sweet!
I Need Coffee – This is a curated list of Amazon products, and buying from this list gives an affiliate commission to I Need Coffee. Most of the time, Amazon’s prices are hard to beat.
The Art Of Manliness – Here is a list of the top 50 gift ideas for the women in your life.
Huckberry’s Top 10 Stocking Stuffers – If you are looking for something on the smaller side, try this list of stocking stuffers. Huckberry usually has a lot of creative stuff.
Why You Should Give Books For Christmas – And to finish it all off, here is an article by Wayne Stiles about why books make the greatest gifts. He even links to a list of top books you can choose from.
Memorize Scripture: Philippians 3:15-16
This week’s passage concluded the previous section, urging those who are spiritually mature to continue to press on.
Take a look at this week’s passage in Philippians 3:15-16:
This is perhaps one of the strongest exhortation in Paul’s letter to the Philippians. Paul is encouraging all those who are spiritually mature to share his dedication. But not all who will read this are necessarily mature. He encourages those individuals to seek such a maturity.
Paul views spiritual maturity as a lifestyle. This is not just intellectually knowing the tenets of the faith. This means living them out in everyday circumstances and situations.
The second half of this statement provides some confusion in interpretation. This is probably not just a matter of doctrinal differences, but lifestyle. The spiritually immature are simply not prepared to live the same level of lifestyle and faith that Paul demonstrates, or that the more spiritually mature display.
Paul’s firm belief is that God will continue to reveal truth to those who are growing, and will bring them up into greater maturity. Believers are all at different stages in their maturity, and God leads each of us as we need, and as we are ready.
When we were children we were grateful to those who filled our stockings at Christmas time. Why are we not grateful to God for filling our stockings with legs?
G. K. Chesterton
Reading God’s Word
Developing A Love For The Bible
I have recently been convicted concerning the idea of developing passion in my life as a believer. Such a passion has to be rooted in God’s Word.
Hebrews 4:12 gives us an incredible insight into the Word of God, and God’s own view of it:
For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Did you notice the very beginning of that verse? God’s Word is living. If the Bible was a dead book, I would be able to read it once, and would never need to read it again. But it is a living Word. And every time I read it, I experience new and different things in it. As I read in it now, I am in a different place in my spiritual walk than I was the last time I might have read any given passage.
And since it is living, it has the power to work within my life and change me. God, through his Holy Spirit, will nudge me to change the things that he points out to me from reading his Word.
Each time I read this book, I find something new to me that I may never have noticed before. And I may not have ever noticed it before because I was not spiritually ready for that particular piece of Truth. And there are things that I am not ready for even yet. But I may be tomorrow, or next week, or next year, as I continue to grow.
Coffee Break – 12.07.2015
Your Monday Dose Of Inspiration
On this day in history: In 1941, Pearl Harbor was bombed by more than 360 Japanese warplanes, catapulting the US into the middle of WW2. Five of eight battleships, three destroyers, and seven other ships were sunk or severely damaged, and more than 200 aircraft were destroyed. A total of 2,400 Americans were killed and 1,200 were wounded, many while valiantly attempting to repulse the attack. Read more here.
Adopt A Coffee Tree – You may have heard of the opportunities to adopt a highway, or adopt a stream, for litter control. Many people adopt a child from a third world country to support through Compassion or World Vision. But did you know that you can adopt a coffee tree? Doing so helps to ensure the continuation of the coffee industry. This is a wonderful idea.
Greek Statues And Star Wars – Some people have very creative talents, and way too much time on their hands. And yet, these are pretty cool. I like some of these better than the originals.
The Strange Story Of Thomas Edison’s Last Breath – People do some crazy things. Some of them, however, are extremely fascinating, like this story of Thomas Edison’s last breath.
Pascal’s Triangle – Though this may look like a simple stack of numbers, it is very intricate and extremely interesting. Especially if you are a math geek.