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This spring (2013) many of us went away for an overnight retreat in Wilmington, NC....It was truly a blessing for all who attended.
Yesterday Phil preached on reasons we give our finances to the church. To put it as snappy as Sam Houston did: "When I got baptized, my wallet got baptized, too." One of the sections of the sermon gave a rationale for why Christians should (at least) tithe.
Ten Big realities about God and about us that we all need to hear every morning.
Paul Tripp's book Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands was written to help Christians counsel other Christians. While there is certainly a place for professional counseling, the book underscores the idea that most of our giving and receiving of counsel will not be in the therapist's office, but in living rooms, coffee shops, church lobbies, offices, classrooms, and grocery stores. All day we are listening to and giving counsel. The question is, are we doing that well?
The SGM blog posted "What in the World is Holy Week"? by Walt Alexander, one of our fellow elders at the Knoxville SG church. It has some great helps for preparing our hearts for Easter. Note that we'll be having a Good Friday service to remind us to slow down and behold the cross.
Jeremy Walker at the Reformation 21 blog recently wrote a post with recommended books and resources for Christians in the workplace. There is a variety of old and new, long and short, so pick one that fits what you're looking for.
Last fall Jordan and Ashley Liggitt did a Bible study with a group of their neighbors. We asked Jordan about how it went and what he learned along the way.
Michelle Alston has created a list of Scriptures (and some paraphrased Scriptures) that unpack in wonderful completeness who we are in Christ. For some of these, the pronouns are changed to personalize them, and for others a paraphrase is used to get at the essence of the text. Yet, these several dozen texts remind us vividly that God not only loves us, but he wants us to grow in our understanding of that love.
On Sunday, February 24, the call to worship during our Sunday service focused on prophecy and the gift of tongues from 1 Corinthians 14:1-5. As you might expect, a number of people responded to the prompting of the Spirit. One of these was Candace Walton, who served the church by interpreting a tongue given by Sam Hodges. We asked her to describe the experience so that others could be encouraged and maybe informed about what it can be like to step out in this way.
David Powlison recently addressed this question on the CCEF blog (Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation). His answers are insightful and helpful.