Do political texts really work? I’m never going to vote for someone because of a text message, but frequent messages do give me a negative impression of your candidate. š³
The August heat is here and with it comes the lack of desire to do anything. I’m going to have to be extra intentional about managing my time. āļøš”ļø
Iām not a fan of the heat and humidity, but the summer garden produce is a bit of silver lining. š±
GoodLinks has released version 2.0 with highlighting! It has been along time in coming, but it seems to be well executed and will certainly streamline my workflow. Also, I think they handled the upgrade pricing fairly. šš¼
Some reasons I switched to Micro.blog.
- Solid stable platform with features I actually use.
- Use of open standards and interoperability with other services.
- Actively developed with new features and updates.
- Feels like a community, not just a service.
I’ve decided to move to Micro.blog as the hub of my social media and blogging. I’ve played with the free trial in the past, and at first it didn’t click for me, but over time it has matured into a service with just the right features and feel.
Looking Unto Jesus
Remember, therefore, it is not thy hold of Christ that saves theeāit is Christ; it is not thy joy in Christ that saves theeāit is Christ; it is not even faith in Christ, though that be the instrumentāit is Christās blood and merits; therefore, look not so much to thy hand with which thou art grasping Christ, as to Christ; look not to thy hope, but to Jesus, the source of thy hope; look not to thy faith, but to Jesus, the author and finisher of thy faith. We shall never find happiness by looking at our prayers, our doings, or our feelings; it is what Jesus is, not what we are, that gives rest to the soul. If we would at once overcome Satan and have peace with God, it must be by ālooking unto Jesus.ā Keep thine eye simply on Him; let His death, His sufferings, His merits, His glories, His intercession, be fresh upon thy mind; when thou wakest in the morning look to Him; when thou liest down at night look to Him. C. H. Spurgeon
Teach Us to Number Our Days
In the last post on New Year’s Day, I asked the question, āIs it wise to mark the passing of time?ā I made a Biblical argument for what time is and where it comes from, and we look at how both God and man relate to time.
We will continue with this theme by focusing on one particular passage that touches on many of the points we discussed previously. The 90th Psalm paints a vivid picture of Godās glory and manās human frailty as seen through the lens of the passage of time. This Psalm may be familiar to you. Historically it has often been read on the occasion of a death or funeral for as the commentator Derek Kidner puts it this Psalm, āis a rehearsal of the facts of life and death.ā
A Brief Theology of Time
For the most part, I confess, Iāve never given much emphasis to the celebration of the New Year. Growing up, Christmas was the main event, and New Years just served to signal the end of the Christmas break and the impending return to school. As Iāve gotten older, New Years is always something of an after thought. I donāt watch football, I donāt participate in wild parties or drunken revelry, I donāt usually even stay up till midnight. Given the option I go to bed at the same time as normal, much to the chagrin of the teenager in our house. I usually mutter something about the new year coming wither Iām awake or asleep before heading off to bed.
After all what is the big deal? It is easy to see the significance of celebrating the incarnationāGod entering into his own creation by taking on human flesh and a human nature in order to bring about the salvation of his people. By contrast, what is the passing of another year? It just seems like a non-event.
Why are we as humans so interested in marking the passage of time. Is it beneficial to do so, and more importantly is it Biblical? What does Scripture have to say about time and our interaction with it? Is it wise for us as believers to mark the passing of years? That is what I hope to consider this article.
Philippians 3:17ā21
Recently at our church, I had the opportunity of participating in āteam teachingā through the book of Philippians for the adult Sunday School class. The book was divided up, and each of the six men were given 3ā4 passages to teach. I am posting the text of my four lessons on this blog. If you are interested in hearing all the lessons for the whole book they are available here.
So far in this chapter Paul has warned against the Judaizers, and any who would place their confidence in who they are, or what they have done and not the finished work of Christ alone. By way of rebuking this idea, Paul gives his own longs list of āfleshlyā qualifications and then discounts them as loss and rubbish in light of the one thing that really mattersāknowing Christ (cf. v7ā8). By this he does not mean merely having knowledge about Christ. Rather it is to know Christ in that intimate relational way that depends on faith, and that leads to becoming like him in his death so that we may also share in his resurrection. This is the focusāthe aimāof the Christian life.
Paul knew that he had not yet attained this perfectly, but he was pressing forward, striving with all that was in him towards that goal. And then he does something which I find surprising. He tells the Philippians to imitate him.