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April 30, 2010
 

Immeasurably More Than All I Can Ask or Imagine

I want to remember today that I can't change or fix anyone. And neither can anyone change or fix me. That is the role of the Holy Spirit alone. But I can pray. I can ask. In my weakness, I can go to the Father, my strong Abba. He is able to do "immeasurably more than all I can ask or imagine" (Ephesians 3:20). When I look at myself, I realize that change in my life most definitely will require supernatural intervention. Yet, I need to remember that my desire for change is not that I will be accepted and forgiven if I change, but that because in Jesus I have already been accepted and forgiven before any change ever takes place. "So, in light of the gospel, change me, Father. By the power of your Spirit indwelling me, enable me see my sin for what it is. Enable me to savor your grace. And enable me to love well."

Filed under  //   change   ephesians   grace   holy spirit   prayer   sanctification  

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February 11, 2010
 

Preaching as a Bush Aglow

I am reading the late Dr. Jack Miller's book of personal letters entitled, The Heart of a Servant Leader. Oh my, this collection is a treasure of grace and wisdom. In a letter to a preacher friend, Miller says, "I think the chief thing in effective ministry... is the presence of the Spirit in the man... When preaching is blandly intellectual, contentless exhortation, or (merely) heavily doctrinal, usually there is also missing the Spirit's presence. The man is only a man preaching to men—not a "bush aglow."
Oh, how I want to be the bush aglow. Please pray that I will be far less concerned with me, and consumed with Jesus— "to make each sermon a daring proclamation... of Christ in his glory and power (in the cross)."   

Filed under  //   holy spirit   jack miller   preaching  

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January 31, 2010
 

The Kind of Preaching We Need Today

I stand duly convicted by these words of Jim Cymbala in his book, Fresh Power (p. 46).  But my heart echos his. I do not need more of my (in)ability in my sermons, I need more of the Spirit. O Lord, let me pray and preach like the helpless man that I am.

"Isn't it tragic that many pastors often spend hours polishing every nuance of their sermons while hardly investing any time at all in prayer and waiting upon God to be freshly filled with the One who can supernaturally assist them? What we need today is not cleverness or oratory—we need messages from God's Word set on fire by the Holy Spirit!"

Filed under  //   holy spirit   prayer   preaching  

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December 2, 2009
 

Today's Fight Club Handout

(download)

Filed under  //   fight club   fruit   galatians   holy spirit   sanctification  

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