Dear listener,
Shepherding a child's heart to know and follow Jesus is simultaneously wonderful and challenging. When my son Thaddeus was born four years ago, one of the ways that I embarked on this journey was by writing him daily devotionals from the pages of Scripture.
We live in a world where people are quick to praise the new and deride the antiquated. When it comes to song selection in our churches, this spirit of our age makes it easy to discover contemporary music and incorporate it into our services.
Though this has many benefits, too deep a fascination with novel melodies poses a danger that our worship will stray far from the invaluable canticles of the past. To combat such deadfall, it’s important to make a concerted effort to seek timeless and meaningful hymns.
“Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.’”
(John 6:26-27 ESV)
“I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.’”
(John 5:30 ESV)
If you’re interested in a humbling exercise, grab a pen and a notebook. As the day goes on, write a check mark for every decision you make. Here’s the catch: differentiate each mark by whether your decision was primarily motivated by a desire to please yourself or by a desire to please God.
If you’re anything like me, one side of your notebook will wind up with a bit more ink on it than it’s neighboring side. And it’s not the side I would have hoped for.
Ministry is hard.
But as we learn in Proverbs 11:14, “Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety” (ESV).
Though you can find this “abundance of counselors” in friends and family, one of the best ways to seek counsel is to read books by godly men. Below are 5 books that I found encouraging while serving in pastoral ministry. It is my prayer that they encourage your heart as well.
“Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me all that I ever did.’ So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, ‘It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.’”
(John 4:39-42 ESV)
I had the privilege of spending a number of my formative years studying the Scriptures at the Moody Bible Institute. There, I developed a deep affection for the Word of God.
Heading east of campus toward LaSalle Boulevard, I would regularly pass the Institute’s grand stone archway to read the sole verse etched on the wall:
“Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
(2 Timothy 2:15 KJV)
This was why I came to Bible College.
“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
(John 3:14-16 ESV)
I had the privilege of spending a number of my formative years studying the Scriptures at the Moody Bible Institute. There, I developed not only a deep affection for the Word of God, but also for strolling the alluring streets of downtown Chicago.
Heading east of campus toward LaSalle Boulevard, I would regularly pass the Institute’s grand stone archway to read the sole verse etched on the wall:
“Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15 KJV)
This was why I came to Bible College.
“Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.”