Tim Keller on Work

Thought this was good. Get the book!

Galations - The Heart of the Gospel

Tim Keller's new book on Galatians. Certainly worth a look...

Pick it up here...

Derek Kidner on Psalm 39:13

    “Hear my prayer, O LORD,
        and give ear to my cry;
        hold not your peace at my tears!
    For I am a sojourner with you,
        a guest, like all my fathers.
    Look away from me, that I may smile again,
        before I depart and am no more!”
(Psalm 39:12-13 ESV)

Below is an excerpt on Psalm 39:13 from Derek Kidner's commentary on Psalms 1-72. Tim Keller mentions this in his sermon "Praying our Tears" which I recommended in Tuesday's post.

"Yet for the moment, like Job or Jeremiah, he can see no more than death, and ask no more than respite. The prayer of 13a makes no more sense than Peter's 'depart from me'; but God knows when to treat that plea as in Luke 5:8ff., and as in Matthew 8:34f. The very presence of such prayers in Scripture is a witness to his understanding. He knows how men speak when they are desperate." (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, Psalms 1-72 by Derek Kidner, Inter-Varsity Press, page 176, emphasis mine.)

On a side note, this is an excellent commentary, well worth investing time to study its pages.

Are you happy enough to be a weeper?

Tim Keller's exposition of Psalm 39:12-13 & 126:1-6 is just simply exceptional and blessing. He brings out the lesson that we should "expect tears, invest the tears and pray the tears." We must stop living the fantasy that our lives will be nearly perfect as Christians. That is a sad falsehood wherein many find there hope and eventually will be disappointed. You can listen or download here. Be blessed friends.

  

  “Hear my prayer, O LORD,
        and give ear to my cry;
        hold not your peace at my tears!
    For I am a sojourner with you,
        a guest, like all my fathers.
    Look away from me, that I may smile again,
        before I depart and am no more!”
(Psalm 39:12-13 ESV)

    When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion,
        we were like those who dream.
    Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
        and our tongue with shouts of joy;
    then they said among the nations,
        “The LORD has done great things for them.”
    The LORD has done great things for us;
        we are glad.
    Restore our fortunes, O LORD,
        like streams in the Negeb!
    Those who sow in tears
        shall reap with shouts of joy!
    He who goes out weeping,
        bearing the seed for sowing,
    shall come home with shouts of joy,
        bringing his sheaves with him.
(Psalm 126 ESV)

Sanctification - Piper & Keller

Love these guys...

Piper and Keller Wrestle with Sanctification from Desiring God on Vimeo.

More on Sanctification from Piper and Keller from Desiring God on Vimeo.

Tim Keller on Prayer

Serving the Ungrateful

Replace "deacon" with "Christian" in the statement below and see if it works for you:

A real deacon, then, can serve those who are not kind and grateful in return (Luke 6:35). Why? A Christian is no man's creditor, and every man's debtor. A Christian, when he is in his right mind, says "Look who I am in Christ! I have come to fullness of life in him. I will rule and reign with Christ forever. I am accepted in the Beloved. God will meet all my needs according to His riches in glory. Oh, world, you owe me nothing! I deserved hell, and now, by God's mercy, I am rich beyond the wildest dreams of an earthly billionaire. Do I need recognition, awards, pats on the back, expressions of gratitude? Does a billionaire mind when a thief steals a quarter from his pocket? How then shall I ever be shaken by an insult, a cold shoulder, or a thankless person." - From Ministries of Mercy: The Call of the Jericho Road by Tim Keller, pg. 138.

Can you fully agree with this statement above? It would be very difficult for most of us to live and think this way everyday, all day. May God give us the stength to desire nothing more than Him and Him alone and then to live our lives daily denying ourselves for Christ's sake.

Keller on the Western Church

Tim Keller

Tim Keller offers some insightful thoughts and questions in his post, The Big Issues facing the Western Church.

They are,
1. The opportunity for extensive culture-making in the U.S.
2. The rise of Islam.
3. The new non-western Global Christianity.
4. The growing cultural remoteness of the gospel.
5. The end of prosperity?

I have been pondering this last point myself lately. What will we do with less money? How will we handle are own finances and those of our own local church? Keller asks discerningly, ...if we experience even one significant act of nuclear or bio-terrorism in the U.S. or Europe, we may have to throw out all the basic assumptions about social and economic progress we have been working off for the last 65 years. In the first half of the 20th century, we had two World Wars and a Depression. Is the church ready for that? How could it be? What does that mean?

Are we ready? Can we suffer through?

Keller on "The Shack"

Anyone who is strongly influenced by the imaginative world of The Shack will be totally unprepared for the far more multi-dimensional and complex God that you actually meet when you read the Bible. - One more viewpoint on The Shack from Tim Keller.

Are You a Blogging Scoffer?

Are you a blogging scoffer? I was reminded just how serious this question is while recently listening to Tim Keller's address this year at the Gospel Coalition. While speaking of those who are religious idolators he notes two marks of the scoffer (Proverbs 1:22; 9:7-8; 13:1; 14:6; 15:12; 19:25; 19:29; 21:11; 21:24; 22:10; 24:9; 29:8). The first is that he is dogmatic and closed minded. The second is that he is always "disrespectful to opponents, always belittling, always mocking, always distainful." Keller points out that "the internet breeds scoffers" because traffic is increased to your blog if you're a scoffer. So, even if what you believe is truth, it is possible to make an idol of it.

Are you a bloging scoffer? Let us always consider this before we click publish and let us think biblically about how we are increasing traffic to our blogs.

Keller On the Lord's Supper

As we prepare for Worship tomorrow and if your church should be celebrating the Lord's table perhaps you can dwell on Keller's thoughts on the Supper in this video. Great stuff...