What to Say to a Grieving Friend...

Go here to be encouraged...

The Sovereignty of God

“Every truth that is revealed to us in God's Word is there not only for our information but also for our inspiration. The Bible has been given to us not to gratify an idle curiosity but to edify the souls of its readers. The sovereignty of God is something more than an abstract principle which explains the rationale of the divine government: it is designed as a motive for godly fear, it is made known to us for the promotion of righteous living, it is revealed in order to bring into subjection our rebellious hearts. A true recognition of God's sovereignty humbles as nothing else does or can humble, and brings the heart into lowly submission before God, causing us to relinquish our own self-will and making us delight in the perception and performance of the divine will.”

-A. W. Pink - "The Sovereignty of God"

Good Doctrine

Today I read an article by John Piper, entitle "Good Doctrine Makes Better (Teenage) Saints." I challenge you to read the entire thing. Here is a small teaser: "even though growing a church by serious teaching of biblical truth may be harder and slower, it does bear more radical fruit than less doctrinally serious strategies of growth. "

My husband and I were involved in Youth Ministry for many years and are saddened by what we saw and still see among many youth 'ministries.' There is such a push to 'entertain, entertain, entertain.' The prevailing attitude is that the Bible seems boring so we need to step it up; the Gospel doesn't seem relevant so we'll just share the good part (Jesus died for you); we have to make it fun for the youth to want to be here... and the list goes on.

Don't get me wrong, it's not the games are wrong, or that food is off-limits, or that the Body shouldn't have fun, but what should be the focus? Doctrine is what usually gets pushed aside when ministries focus on 'bringing them in' by various measures... and at what cost? Well, it could be the cost of their soul.

So what do we do? According to Piper, we should "work our heinies off teaching and preaching and modeling the Truth. And resist an entertainment model for youth ministry. And cultivate a joyfully blood-earnest atmosphere for worship. And call for our youth and our retirees to go risk their lives somewhere for the risen King Jesus. This is where serious truth-driven ministry takes us."

Enough said!