Choosing Thomas | Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas

Choosing Thomas | Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas

Worth Watching!!

Our role in salvation by MacArthur

Scripture makes it clear that salvation if of the Lord- every aspect of it- and that those whom the Lord has foreknown He has predestined, He does indeed call and justify, and whom He justifies, He will indeed someday glorify. Salvation is presented in scripture as completed from God's perspective. Our role is faithfulness and obedience to the Lord. If we're not faithful to evangelize and call people to repentance, that is sin on our part. But the eternal destiny of a soul is in God's hands, not ours. It is His job to convert sinners. Our is simply to be faithful.

From "Fools Gold" by John MacArthur.

Question: Is this the worst song ever?

Is this the worst song ever?
Sing it with me (with your socks in the air) "You spin me right round Jesus right round. Like a record Jesus right round."

I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

What?

Sobering stats: this year the federal government will:

spend $30,958 per household
tax $17,576 per household
borrow $13,392 per household

Federal spending, in particular, will be
increased by 22%
account for 26% of the gross domestic product (GDP)
By 2019, we'll be spending almost $800 billion just to pay net interest on our debt.

(HT: Justin Taylor)

Beautiful Jesus

Beautiful Jesus :: Kristian Stanfill from Catalyst on Vimeo.

All I Have Is Christ

All I Have Is Christ from Sovereign Grace Ministries on Vimeo.

I once was lost in darkest night
Yet thought I knew the way.
The sin that promised joy and life
Had led me to the grave.
I had no hope that You would own
A rebel to Your will.
And if You had not loved me first
I would refuse You still.

But as I ran my hell-bound race
Indifferent to the cost
You looked upon my helpless state
And led me to the cross.
And I beheld God’s love displayed
You suffered in my place
You bore the wrath reserved for me
Now all I know is grace.

Hallelujah! All I have is Christ
Hallelujah! Jesus is my life

Now, Lord, I would be Yours alone
And live so all might see
The strength to follow Your commands
Could never come from me.
Oh Father, use my ransomed life
In any way You choose.
And let my song forever be
My only boast is You.

© 2008 Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI), by Jordan Kauflin

I Dare you to Pray this.

Great challange by Francis Chan. I love Francis, he is a great preacher and he is my height!

7 "Two things I ask of you, O LORD;
do not refuse me before I die:

8 Keep falsehood and lies far from me;
give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.

9 Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you
and say, 'Who is the LORD ?'
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonor the name of my God. Proverbs 30

I dare you to pray this!
(HT: Josh Harris)

Andy Stanley on Leadership

Quotes from Andy Stanley at Catalyst 2008

· We want our leaders to have consistency between what they say and what they do.

· At the end of the day, everyone is a volunteer. They can quit at any time.

· Authenticity is a powerful leadership dynamic.

· Nehemiah got mad and asked the leaders to stop over-charging the people. They immediately complied. Why? Because for 12 years, Nehemiah had been living an authentic life in front of them. He had moral authority.

· As leaders, we must be the men and women who never carry into the future the hurt of the past.

· Perhaps the boldest leadership move you could make is to get on your knees and let go of your hurts.

· Men: If your wife feels like your church is your mistress, you are part of the problem you are trying to solve.

· If your kids feel neglected because of your time at the church, you are part of the problem you are trying to solve.

(HT:Tim Stevens)

What Makes a Great Leader Part 1

(taken from www.entrepreneur.com)

In the book, Lessons From the Top: The Search for America's Best Business Leaders, Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks, made the following observation:

"I think it's very difficult to lead today when people are not really truly participating in the decision. You won't be able to attract and retain great people if they don't feel like they are part of the authorship of the strategy and the authorship of the really critical issues. If you don't give people an opportunity to really be engaged, they won't stay."

Key Trait #1: You must have a vision. We've all heard the saying "You must stand for something, or you'll fall for everything." But what does that really mean? Standing firm when it comes to your company's policies and procedures is all well and good, but it doesn't speak to having a vision. As a leader, you have to learn to communicate your vision or the vision of your company to the people you want to follow you. But how can you do that?

Key Trait #2: You must have passion. Your employees want passion; in fact, they'll go to the ends of earth because of it, live and die for it. Think of the sailors who traveled with Christopher Columbus or Leif Ericsson to explore uncharted territory. Their leaders' passion inspired them to take on new and very dangerous challenges.

To build an extraordinary management team, you've got to light the "fire in their bellies," to get them to feel passion about the company and connect to the leader's vision. Passion is such a key part of being a great leader that if you don't have it, you simply can't be a great leader. Think of all the great leaders throughout the ages and try to name one that did not have passion.

Key Trait #3: You must learn to be a great decision maker. How are major decisions made in your company? What is your process for making them? For instance, do you talk to your management team and create a list of pros and cons to help you make the best decision? Maybe you conduct a cost analysis. Or do you create a timeline for the implementation strategy, process and timing?

Key Trait #4: You must be a team builder. To become a great leader, you must develop a great team or, one might say, a well-oiled machine. But how do you do that? You can start by handing off responsibility to your team and letting your team to run with it. Don't breathe down their necks and don't micromanage, but make yourself available if questions or problems come up. Teach your team to use the Q-CAT decision-making system and give them the freedom to work through their own decisions.

When projects aren't on track or your team is falling behind on deadline, it serves no one if you start pointing fingers. This is when you need to rise to the occasion and inspire confidence in your employees, to let them know you support them and ready to help.

Key Trait #5: You must have character. Without character, all the other "keys" are for naught. That's because your innate character strengths and limitations play a critical role in your leadership style. The real question is, are you aware of just what role they play? All great leaders have taken steps to learn about their individual personality and what part it plays in their leadership style.

Insecure Leaders Part 5

Steve Jobs on leadership: "Apple is a $30 billion company, yet we’ve got less than 30 major products. I don’t know if that’s ever been done before. Certainly the great consumer electronics companies of the past had thousands of products. We tend to focus much more. People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully.


(christopher scott)

Insecure Leaders vs. Secure Leaders

There are two types of leaders; insecure leaders and secure leaders.

Insecure leaders always put others down. They say things and act in ways that make others a little bit smaller and not feel good about themselves. Insecure leaders make sure you know and feel that you’re not as smart and important as they are.

Secure leaders always build others up. They say things and act in ways that make others feel better and bigger about themselves. Secure leaders point out that you have more potential than you realize. They always make you feel like you’re a little bigger than you actually are.

You won’t be surprised if I told you the people around insecure leaders actually do less, and the people around secure leaders actually do more.

Insecure Leaders Part 4

Ten Differences Between an Insecure Leader and a Secure Leader (www.executivebrief.com)

1.Insecure leaders selectively divulge and withhold information. Secure leaders freely share information.
2.Insecure leaders teach employees what they need to know. Secure leaders nurture employees to help them figure out what they need to know.

3.Insecure leaders discourage risk taking. Secure leaders encourage calculated risk taking.

4.Insecure leaders give instructions and expect them to be followed. Secure leaders give guidance and expect results.

5.Insecure leaders demand respect. Secure leaders earn respect.

6.Insecure leaders may acknowledge great performance but ensure they also get credit. Secure leaders spotlight great performance and don’t worry about getting credit.

7.Insecure leaders hire and promote others who think like they do. Secure leaders hire and promote others who think differently than they do.

8.Insecure leaders deflect failure. Secure leaders accept responsibility for failure.

9.Insecure leaders promote those they can control. Secure leaders promote those they don’t have to control.

10.Insecure leaders grow good doers. Secure leaders grow great leaders.

Tell Someone about Jesus

Insecure Leadership Part 3

In Building Your Leadership Resume, president of the Southern Baptist Convention and pastor Johnny Hunt outlines nine characteristics of an insecure leader:

• An insecure leader has a hard time giving credit to others. “Why should praise seem like an unrecoverable cost? It is a gift that gives back to everyone.”

• An insecure leader keeps information from his staff. “When you release information, you convey trust and confidence to others. When you conceal it, you convey just the opposite: no trust, no confidence.”

• An insecure leader doesn’t want his staff exposed to other leaders—people who may possess qualities you don’t, people who may have skills your staff wishes you had. “When one person grows the whole team grows….Give your people the best—even better than you are.”

• An insecure leader is often a micromanager. “He’s a control freak.” Nothing can happen that they are not fully aware of. They fear things will fall apart without them. This kind of oppressive control can wring the life out of your team.

• Insecure leaders are too needy of praise. “For this reason, more than perhaps any other, they can’t really be leaders. When someone needs his followers to always be telling him how wonderful he is, he works in direct opposition to the heartbeat of leadership, which is: building into other’s lives.”

• Insecure leaders don’t provide security for those they lead. “If the mood and environment in the office is one of fear, second-guessing, and self-doubt, you can be sure an insecure leader is in charge.”

• Insecure leaders take more than they give. Instead of validating and encouraging others, they are focused on receiving it.

• Insecure leaders limit their best leaders. “Insecure leaders cannot genuinely celebrate the victories won by others.”

• Insecure leaders limit their organization. “Not only does insecurity throttle down the horsepower of individual team members; it results in putting restraints on the whole church or organization.”

Insecure Leadership Part 2

John Maxwell lists the 10 "core characteristics" of an insecure leader.

1.) They are hungry for control (empowering others or delegating
responsibility scares them!).

2.) They fear public failure or embarrassment.

3.) They avoid risk.

4.) They don't open up in relationships for fear of rejection.

5.) They don't work with 10s or topnotch people (fear of being upstaged,
so prefers to be surrounded by mediocrity).

6.) They resist change (status quo helps them maintain control).

7.) They're incapable of nurturing the people they lead.

8.) They stay within their comfort zone.

9.) They view people and situations through their mirror of insecurities.

10.) They produce an environment where insecurities abound.

Insecure Leadership Part 1

I love quotes about Leadership from leaders. Here are some good ones:

"Don't tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results." George S. Patton

"Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it." Dwight Eisenhower

"The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it."
Theodore Roosevelt


But below is some great advice for insecure leaders. If you know one let them read this.

When a leader is insecure in his/her knowledge, capabilities, experience, relationship with stockholders and Board of Directors, or with other peers, disaster is headed their way. They are going to do whatever it takes to “prove” they are the boss and that they are in control — anything to bolster their self-esteem. Unknowingly, this spells death for the leader and, quite possibly, the organization.

3 Things Insecure Leaders “Kill“
1. They kill Community
2. They kill Culture
3. They kill the Company

(HT:Weirdguy blog)

Different Views on 2 Peter 3:9

2 Peter 3:9 has been the subject of much controversy over the years. It is healthy to look at different views of this verse. We will look at arguments from the Reformed and non-Reformed position a like. Which do you hold and why?


The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9

We will look at the first part of this verse today:
"The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness,..."
Peter moves from the timelessness of God to the tenderness of God.

Peter does not dispute the mocker's claim that the Second Coming had been delayed. He uses the delay as an opportunity to explain that another reason the Lord’s return seems to be so long in coming is that God wants as many people to be saved as possible.

Slow (1019) (braduno) means to tarry, loiter, delay, be tardy or delayed beyond the expected or proper time. Note what God is "slow" in regard to in [Ps 86:15 Is 30:18].

The KJV says God is not "slack" a state characterized by slowness, sluggishness, or lack of energy - none of those apply to God.

God’s so-called “tardiness” as viewed by some people (as some count slowness) is only a delay with respect to their time schedules, not His!

Not is the Greek word "ou" which is the absolute form of negation, so what Peter is saying is that "slowness" or "slackness" is absolutely not part of God's actions. His delay is due neither to indifference or inability to perform. God waits but is never slow, never late for it is always within His power to fulfill His promise as He sees fit. As discussed in the preceding verse, God's "timepiece" is eternity so He sees things differently than man in regard to what is "slow". God’s delay in fulfilling His promise is not, like men’s delays, owing to inability or fickleness in keeping His word, but is related to His attribute of longsuffering toward sinners.

Promise (1860) (epaggelia from epaggello = to announce that one is about to do or furnish something from epi = upon, intensifies meaning + aggelos = messenger or aggello = to tell or declare) is a declaration that one will do or refrain from doing something specified. It is also a legally binding declaration that gives the person to whom it is made a right to expect or to claim the performance or forbearance of a specified act.

Count (2233) (hegeomai [word study]) means to consider and give careful thought, not making a quick decision. It was a mathematical term conveying the idea of thinking about something and coming to a conclusion. In other words, one leads their mind through a reasoning process and arrives at a conclusion. Some had carefully considered the facts but "their math was bad" and they had come to an incorrect conclusion regarding the Lord's delay.

But (235) (alla) introduces contrast (see discussion on importance of terms of contrast in the observation phase of Inductive Bible Study) and when used after a negative statement ("not slow") marks a direct, even emphatic antithesis and can be translated "but, but rather, but on the contrary".

In short, in this verse but introduces the contrasting reality that God's deliberate delaying action has a wonderfully benevolent purpose.

Toward you reminds the readers that they (and we) themselves have experienced this fact of His loving patience.

Patient (3114) (makrothumeo from makrós = long + thumós = wrath, anger) (See also word study of noun makrothumia) (See God's attribute longsuffering) means to have "a long fuse", to be longsuffering, slow to anger, slow to punish, to exhibit self-restraint in the face of provocation, not to retaliate, to bear the offenses and injuries of others, to be mild and slow in avenging.

Being slow to anger does not mean that God does not care but that He has His "emotions under control."

God endures endless blasphemies against His name, along with rebellion, murders, and the ongoing breaking of His law, waiting patiently while He is calling and redeeming His own. It is not impotence or slackness that delays final judgment but it is His attribute of patience. This attribute of God is reflected in His ability to be inconvenienced or taken advantage of by a person over and over again and yet not manifest anger! Amazing love and grace from an amazing God.

God's "longsuffering" was behind His delaying the Genesis Flood for 120 years,

(HT:www.preceptaustin.com)

Rick Warren on the Church Part 4

7. The Church provides the simplest administration.
The Church is organized in such a way that we can network faster and with less bureaucracy than most governmental agencies or even well-meaning charities. For instance, the organizational structure at Saddleback, which is based on the New Testament model, holds that every member is a minister. Each person in our church family is encouraged to use his or her own S.H.A.P.E. (Spiritual gifts, Heart, Abilities, Personality, Experiences) to do what God has called him or her to do. There is no bureaucracy or hierarchy. There isn’t a single committee, and the process doesn’t require a long list of approvals.
The old wineskin of command and control won’t work well in the 21st century. The organization of the future is the “network.” And there’s no better worldwide network than the Church, where every member is a minister and empowered to do what God wants done.

Consider it this way – tens of millions of Christians in millions of small groups that are part of churches around the world can take on the global giants with no other authority than that given from Jesus Christ. In other words, we have God’s permission and we have God’s command to do it. There is no need to seek permission from anyone else.

8. The Church provides for God’s conclusion.
Since we believe the Bible is God’s Word, we already know the end of history. Jesus said in Matthew 24: “The good news about God’s Kingdom will be preached in all the world to every nation, and then the end will come.” It is inevitable and unavoidable.
When you consider these eight advantages, think about the exponential explosion of ministry when millions upon millions of small groups in millions upon millions of churches organize in such a way that each person can do their part in attacking the five global giants.

What do you think could happen if God’s people prayed against these global giants, prepared for action against these giants, and then moved through faith to tackle these giants?
We may look at these problems and think, “These are too big! How could we possibly solve them?”
But with God, nothing is impossible – and if we all work together as his Church, we’ll see these giants falls just as Goliath fell when faced with David’s obedience to God.
Pastor, it is a great privilege and an awesome responsibility to lead a local church. God wouldn’t have placed you where you are if he didn’t believe you could handle the task before you. You play a vital role in tackling these global giants. It is my privilege to co-labor with you.

Men in Church Leadership

This blog entitled "What type of man are you looking for?" Nails it when it comes to men in church leadership.
(HT:John Piper)

"Seeking creative-types who want to reach out to a culturally diverse and post-denominational world."

I read this advertisement today from a seminary. I asked myself, "If I was a seminary recruiter what kind of man would I be looking to train to teach and lead the church of the future?"

Does the church need self-labeled creative-types in leadership? What is a creative-type?

Do they have a mac? Do they have messy hair? Do they not tuck their shirt in? Do they create something? Are they the ones who appreciate all kinds of art? Are they entrepreneurial? Do they have a reputation for bucking the establishment?

If we were to look to God's Word about this, especially 1 Timothy 3:1-8 and 2 Timothy 2:2, we would find descriptors like:
above reproach
husband of one wife
sober-minded
self-controlled
respectable
hospitable
able to teach
not a drunkard
not violent but gentle
not quarrelsome
not a lover of money
manage his household well
not a recent convert
well thought of by outsiders
dignified
not double-tongued
faithful
Whether we think of ourselves as a creative-type or not, my hope is that all men who aspire to leadership in the church would desire the label of man of God (1 Tim. 6:11), workers for your joy (2 Cor. 1:24), servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God (1 Cor. 4:1), men of sincerity (2 Cor. 2:17).

Rick Warren on the Church Part 3

5. The Church provides the highest motivation.
Why do any of us do what we do in ministry? It’s not to make money, not to make a name for ourselves and not for duty to our nation. We do it out of love. Jesus stated it as the Great Commandment: “Love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself.” We wouldn’t do the hard work required to tackle these global giants for money, for fame, or for anything else. It just wouldn’t be worth it; we’d quit before the end.
We’re motivated to keep at the hard work of ministry because we love God, and our love for God compels us to love other people. It is love that never gives up; it is love that keeps moving forward despite the appearance of impossible odds; and it is love that outlasts any problem.

6. The Church provides the strongest authorization.
God authorized the Church to take on global giants, such as spiritual lostness, egocentric leadership, poverty, disease, and ignorance. With God’s authorization, the outcome is guaranteed to be successful.
When you know that God has authorized you to do something, you don’t worry about failure because God doesn’t sponsor flops. If God says we’re going to do it, it’s going to happen. It is inevitable. In fact, the Bible teaches that God will give us his power to complete the task. This is God’s way - ordinary people empowered by his Spirit.

Rick Warren on the Church Part 2

3. The Church provides the longest continuation
The Church has been around for 2,000 years. We’re not a fly-by-night operation. The Church has a track record that spans centuries: Malicious leaders have tried to destroy it, hostile groups have persecuted it, and skeptics have scoffed at it. Nevertheless, God’s Church is bigger now than ever before in history.
Why? Because it’s the Church that Jesus established, and it is indestructible. The Bible calls the Church an unshakable kingdom. In Matthew 16, Jesus says, “I will build my Church and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.” All the powers of hell – in other words, no hurricane, no earthquake, no tsunami, no famine, no pandemic, no army will ever conquer the Church established by Jesus Christ.

4. The Church provides the fastest expansion.
Did you know that every day 60,000 new people come to believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior? By the end of today, thousands of new churches will be started throughout the world, and that will happen tomorrow and the next day and the next.
In one country that is closed to traditional Christian missions, more than 60,000 house churches have been started in one province by the work of lay people, no different from the people who fill your church sanctuary every weekend.
Why is fast expansion important? If you’ve got a problem that’s growing at a rapid rate, then you need a solution that will grow even more rapidly. For instance, HIV/AIDS is growing at an incredibly fast rate in the world. Yet thank God the Church is outgrowing the disease, so more and more believers can help minister to those with HIV/AIDS.
If we’re going to tackle global giants like poverty, disease, or illiteracy, then we must be part of something that’s growing faster than the problem. The Church is doing just that!

Rick Warren on the Church Part 1

The Church will last for eternity, and because it is God’s instrument for ministry here on Earth, it is truly the greatest force on the face of the Earth. That’s why I believe tackling the world’s biggest problems – the giants of spiritual lostness, egocentric leadership, poverty, disease, and ignorance – can only be done through the Church.

The Church has eight distinct advantages over the efforts of business and government:

1. The Church provides for the largest participation.
Most people have no idea how many Christians there are in the world: More than 2 billion people claim to be followers of Jesus Christ. That’s one third of the world’s population! The Church has about a billion more people than the entire nation of China.

For example, about 100 million people in the United States went to church this past weekend. That’s more people than will attend sporting events in the United States throughout this year. The Church is the largest force for good in the world. Nothing else even comes close.

2. The Church provides for the widest distribution.
The Church is everywhere in the world. There are villages that have little else, but they do have a church. You could visit millions of village around the world that don’t have a school, a clinic, a hospital, a fire department, or a post office. They don’t have any businesses. But they do have a church. The Church is more widely spread – more widely distributed – than any business franchise in the world.

Consider this: The Red Cross noted that 90 percent of the meals they served to victims of Hurricane Katrina were actually cooked by Southern Baptist churches. Many churches were able to jump into action faster than the government agencies or the Red Cross. Why? The Church is literally everywhere, and Christians who could provide help to the Gulf Coast communicated with Christians in need of help so relief could be sent immediately.

Spurgeon on Grace

Never did a man sincerely seek but what he found the Lord willing to give. Go to your chamber, look at your past life, survey your mistakes and your sins, and confess them; and then lift up your eyes to the cross, and say, “O Jesus, given for sinners, have mercy upon a guilty one - have mercy upon me!” He cannot refuse you. As I read in an old Puritan this week, he says, “Come to Jesus, sinner; and if you are lame, come lame; and if you say you have no feet, come on your stumps. Come as you can, for he cannot reject you till he denies himself. He must cease to be faithful before he can reject any sinner that comes humbly to rest upon him.” Try him to-day, you aged people! Seek him, and he will be found of you. You young people, turn not your backs upon him! and you in middle life, O close in with him this day, and may he give you the water of life! Did not he say to that woman, “If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee,, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water”? Ask, and he will give. What! not ask when it is to be had for the asking? Ah! Lord, we ask. Grant it now for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Charles H. Spurgeon

Where's Your Scar?

By Amy Carmichael

Hast thou no scar?
No hidden scar on foot, or side, or hand?
I hear thee sung as mighty in the land;
I hear them hail thy bright, ascendant star.
Hast thou no scar?

Hast thou no wound?
Yet I was wounded by the archers; spent,
Leaned Me against a tree to die; and rent
By ravening beasts that compassed Me, I swooned.
Hast thou no wound?


No wound? No scar?
Yet, as the Master shall the servant be,
And piercèd are the feet that follow Me.
But thine are whole; can he have followed far
Who hast no wound or scar?

James MacDonald says "You are Chosen"

With all due respect to blood relatives, there is something powerful about being chosen. If you were adopted into a family, you were chosen. Your parents looked around and said, "We want her." Or "We choose him to be our son." Did you know that adoption's legal bonds are so strong that an adopted child cannot be disowned?
If you are married, then you also know the wonder of being chosen. Out of all the world your spouse chose you to share their name, to share their life, to share everything good and bad that they would encounter for the rest of their years.
But even these powerful bonds can't compare to the truth that God in His infinite grace chose to set His love upon you!

Some people struggle with this truth. They're like, "How dare God choose one person and not choose another!" If that bugs you, you still have a lot to learn about God. "How dare the clay say to the potter, ‘Why have you made me like this?'"(Isaiah 45:9). If God wants to make one vessel for honor and one vessel for dishonor (2 Timothy 2:20), that's what it means to be sovereign. I can't explain that to you. All I can tell you is that when people resist the truth about God's sovereignty to choose, it has led to two errors.

The first error people say is "A loving God wouldn't choose certain people and thereby reject others." So their rationalization leads to the idea that God chooses everyone. Yet John 1:12 says— "only those who receive Him are given the authority to be called the children of God."
Other people say God doesn't have anything to do with it. It's totally us. We're the ones that choose. If you know the Lord, it's because you choose." Of course that's not what the Scripture teaches either. Here are two verses that prove otherwise:

• Psalm 91:14: "Because He has set His love upon me, I will set Him on high. Because He has known my name"
• Ephesians 1:4: "According as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world"

Somehow, before the world was made, God looked into eternity future and chose to set His love upon you. Your inner assurance shines through when you are convinced that God is personally committed to you. For no reason you can claim, you were on His most wanted list.

Worship Mythbusters: Ten things that damage a worship ministry and hamper worship in a church

Here is a great 10 list on worship in the church:
Worship Mythbusters: Ten things that damage a worship ministry and hamper worship in a church

Chandler on the Reformed Community

From "The Good Fight," an interview with Matt Chandler in the current issue of Leadership.

"I'm unapologetically Reformed, but nine times out of ten I cannot stand the Reformed community. I don't want to be around them. I don't want to read their blogs. They can be cannibalistic, self-indulgent, non-missional, and angry. It's silly and sad at the same time. Reformed doctrine should lead to a deep sense of humility and patience with others. How it produces such arrogance baffles me."
Matt Chandler is the pastor of The Village Church in Highland Village, Texas