Want a tip on how to read your Bible well? View it through this lens.

Leading a small group? Try to lead people to see their Bibles like this.

Looking for a good church? Find a pastor who can say and do this and a people who want to.

It’s all about Jesus.

44 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

Luke 24

(posted by NDMB)

Most men are not satisfied with the permanent output of their lives. Nothing can wholly satisfy the life of Christ within his followers except the adoption of Christ’s purpose toward the world he came to redeem. Fame, pleasure and riches are but husks and ashes in contrast with the boundless and abiding joy of working with God for the fulfillment of his eternal plans. The men who are putting everything into Christ’s undertaking are getting out of life its sweetest and most priceless rewards.

—J. Cambell White

(via John Piper)

Dead. What does this word convey to us? Have you seen a dead person in a casket, or come upon a dead animal in the woods? It is obvious that they are not about to take another breath, or reach out to us, or get up and walk away. The man in the casket is cold and lifeless and most definitely not present. The animal’s eyes are glazed and empty and flies buzz greedily around them. This is what dead means.  Yet when we read certain verses in Scripture, somehow we feel differently about the word. In Ephesians 2 Paul says in verse 1 “…you were dead in your trespasses and sins…” and in verse 5 that “…even when we were dead in our trespasses, [God] made us alive together with Christ…” And from this point we somehow come to the metaphor that God throws us a life preserver and we grab a hold of it. But this does grievous harm to Paul’s metaphor. A dead thing can grab hold of nothing. A dead thing cannot tread water. A dead thing can do absolutely nothing…unless it is quickened.

DK

For a more thorough treatment of this topic, check out these sermon notes from John Piper.

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByDate/1985/521_Why_We_Need_a_Savior_Dead_in_Sins/

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Justin Taylor recently wrote a wonderful recounting of how John Piper became a pastor 30 years ago. It’s a great read and the picture alone is worth it. :)

(Posted by NB via Justin Taylor)