Bible Teacher. Pastor.Educator.

What I read today ......God is using Paul Tripp to rock my mind

What I read this morning:

 

" The Christian life can really be boiled down to two words: trust and obey. I must always entrust the things that are out of my control to God (Circle of Concern), and I must always be faithful to obey His clear and specific commands (Circle of Responsibility). - Paul Tripp From Pg 255 of Instruments in the Redeemers Hands..[1]

 

“Because sin is deceitful and fallen people are so naturally blind to uses of self, data gathering must always pursue two goals. First, the process must give the counselor the information needed to provide wise biblical counseling but an even more fundamental purpose is that we would be the Messiah’s instruments to open the eyes that have been blind for too long”. Pg 277 Instruments in the Redeemers Hands

 

“Our goal is not only to expose the darkness that exists in relationships and situations but the darkness of the heart, so that the gospel can be applied”. Pg 278. Instruments in the Redeemers Hand

 

“ I want to help counselees see themselves in the mirror of God’s word I will ask questions that they would never ask and probe in places they would not know to probe”. Pg 278. Instruments in the Redeemers Hands

 

Pray. Plan. Prepare. Pursue. Perspire. Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard! Give it all you've got today, and then make it a habit! -Bishop Dale C. Bronner

 

Facts about Spiritual Blindness from Paul’s Tripp:

• A fundamental part of being spiritually blind is that you are blind to your blindness... Pg292
• Spiritual blindness is the condition of every sinner, every counselee. Pg 292
• Spiritual blindness is deceptive because it masquerades as other things.
• Manna falling from heaven became to the Israelites because they were not focusing in the covenant love it’s provision represented, but on it’s taster as compared to the menu of Egypt”.  Page 282
• If you really want to understand what is important to a person, find out where he feels needy. Values become desires, desires become demands, and demands get expressed in counseling as “needs”.  Page 281.
• Another scriptural term for the spiritually blind is  “fools”.  Page 282

 

How this impacted me?

Do I come to situations with silent demands and respond with anger when my needs are ignored? I need to remember that I cannot hold people responsible for unwritten or unspoken expectations.

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[1] . Facebook status on Thursday, October 25, 12.

Trayvon Martin: Why I Am Fearful To Have A Son « IAmMarielleT

I am not a mother, but I hope to be one day. I reflect on the many conversations I want to have and life lessons that I want to teach my kids, especially my son. I envision teaching my son that he is to always respect and value a woman. I envision teaching him how to stand tall and be proud of who he is. I envision teaching him how to be a God-fearing individual and to respect all. I envision instilling in him the value of hard work and striving to be the best that he can be; to work hard in school and take his education seriously. Then, my mind creeps to that dreaded “talk” I will have to give him one day. No, not the “talk” about sex (my husband will be handling this topic) but the “how to survive and make it home as a Black male” talk.

I will have to look at my son and teach him to never run in public, especially with something in his hands because people will think he is stealing. I will have to teach my son that there are certain neighborhoods he can’t be in at night. I will have to teach him if and when he is driving and is pulled over by the police, to simply respond to them “yes, sir’ and “no sir” with both his hands highly visible on the steering wheel. I will have to look at my son and tell him “no matter how great of a kid you are; no matter how wonderful of a student and overall human being you are when you walk out of this house, to some, none of that will matter. To many, you will be viewed as a thug and unfortunately, just another nigger.” I dread the thought of having this conversation, but I know that if I want to see my son healthy and alive, it is one I will have to have.

It terrifies me to know that no matter how hard my husband and I will work to make sure our children are protected; that our son is protected, we can’t protect him from the racist element of the world. We can only teach him how to try to survive it. It devastates me to no end that it won’t matter how great the family is my son comes from and how amazing of an individual he is, he will be reduced to a stereotypical image of a Black male who is considered to be a worthless human being. It breaks my heart that this will be my son’s reality and unfortunately, this will perhaps be his son’s reality.

via iammariellet.com

Hey Brothers....Young men......20 “little things” that could change your marriage

Doug, you made me mad last week because I was too dumb to notice the simple things I wasn’t doing. After I left you I made a list of 20 doable things that I would pursue this week.”

Here’s his list:
1. Clean up my dishes
2. Not leave clothes on the side of my bed
3. Put the toothpaste in the drawer (I usually leave it out)
4. To hug/kiss her right when I come in the house
5. Fill-up the gas in her car
6. Not watch TV in bed when she’s trying to sleep
7. Write her a short note and put in her briefcase
8. Don’t read the mail and leave the envelopes out
9. Put stuff back in the refrigerator
10. Walk the dog at night so she doesn’t have to
11. Be more affectionate
12. Listen to music instead of sports’ radio while we’re getting ready
13. Turn the lights off when I leave a room
14. Offer to help the kids with their homework
15. Comment and affirm her more often
16. Ask her if I could do the shopping this week
17. Don’t bring my phone to the dinner table
18. Care more deeply about her day
19. Make the bed
20. Bring home flowers/dessert/gift one night a week

via www.dougfields.com

Seven Reasons I LOVE Our Children’s Ministry! :: Perry Noble | Leadership, Vision & Creativity

#1 – It’s clean!  No nasty carpet!  No smells that make you want to projectile vomit.  No dirty floors!!!  I know that our kid’s area is clean…and that matters to every parent.

#2 – It’s safe!  Background checks have been ran on every staff member (in our church) and every volunteer that has any contact with children (or students!)  There is a volunteer security team that makes sure random people do not just walk through our kid’s area…and there is a solid check-in system where not just anyone can come pick the child up from their class, whoever checked them in must check them out.

#3 – It’s fun!  My four year old daughter LOVES CHURCH, LOVES IT!!!  I love the fact that “fun” is a value in our kid’s ministry!!!  Where in the world did we ever get the idea that kid’s must suffer through church?  Heaven is NOT boring, it’s going to be a massive party/celebration, church should be as well (especially for kids!)

#4 – Our Staff & Volunteers Are Awesome – Our children’s staff LOVE children!  Our volunteers love children!  They do not do what they do out of duty but rather delight!!!  If a staff member or volunteer the children’s area does not absolutely love children then they need to be moved to another area.  Kid’s can read right through an adult…and a ministry that isn’t based out of love for children will be unfruitful and ineffective.

#5 – Our Kid’s Know God’s Word – Every week on the way home from church I ask Charisse two questions (by the way, these are the two questions I’ve shared with our children’s ministry for over a decade in regards to what their vision should be for children’s ministry.  I have said that parents are going to ask their kids two questions every Sunday…which are…

• Did you have fun?  (This one is first 90% of the time!)
• What did you learn?

via www.perrynoble.com

8 WAYS TO HELP DEPRESSED CHRISTIANS [VIDEO] Nov 14, 2011 • By David Murray

8 WAYS TO HELP DEPRESSED CHRISTIANS [VIDEO]

Nov 14, 2011 • By David Murray • 3 Comments

  

Here are eight guidelines for helping depressed Christians. In the video I cover the following points:

1. Be prepared for it
2. Don’t assume it is caused by a specific personal sin
3. Check depth, width, and length of symptoms.
4. Don’t rush to medication and don’t rule out medication
5. Take holistic approach both to cause and cure
6. Give hope
7. Involve family & friends
8. Re-establish spiritual disciplines