Planned books:
- Purity of Heart (Harper Torchbooks) by Soren Kierkegaard
- Living Love: A Modern Edition of Treatise on the Love of God (Christian Classics (Brewster, Mass.).) by De Sales, Saint Francis
- True Spirituality by Francis A. Schaeffer
- Spiritual Direction: Wisdom for the Long Walk of Faith by Henri J. M. Nouwen
- The Daily Reader for Contemplative Living: Excerpts from the Works of Father Thomas Keating, O.C.S.O by Thomas Keating
Current books:
-
Sacred Companions: The Gift of Spiritual Friendship by David G. Benner
-
Five Smooth Stones for Pastoral Work by Eugene H. Peterson
-
Jesus and the Message of the New Testament (Fortress Classics in Biblical Studies) by Joachim Jeremias
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Mentor Like Jesus by Regi Campbell, Richard Chancy
-
Seasons of the Soul: Stages of Spiritual Development by Bruce Demarest
Recent books:
- The Tangible Kingdom: Creating Incarnational Community (J-B Leadership Network Series) by Hugh Halter, Matt Smay
- The Weight of Glory by C. S. Lewis
- The Sacred Meal: The Ancient Practices Series by Nora Gallagher
- Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit by Francis Chan
- Deep Church: A Third Way Beyond Emerging and Traditional by Jim Belcher
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Glory Hogs
September 10th, 2007 | 
Author: Morning devotions with the fam’s today turned up this gem…
John 5:44 [ESV]
“No wonder you can’t believe! For you gladly honor each other, but you don’t care about the honor that comes from the one who alone is God.” [NLT]
The question which came to me, I posed to the table… “Do we fall under the same guilt as the Pharisees and teachers of the Law with regard to this statement of Jesus?”
I think far too often the answer is “yes.” How many of us have justified our actions or lack of action respecting the will and way of our GOD? We will say, “God knows my heart and knows I love him; He forgives me…” We then go on to seek the accolades and praises of man by caring more about what they think of us (they’ll call me a Jesus Freak or Bible Thumper or fill in the blank). We say; “I want to be able to relate to them so I might teach them about Jesus…”(but not live like I am honoring God).
Maybe this sounds a little hard core, but from my own perspective it seems rather core-cutting. Am I seeking first the kingdom of God? Am I seeking to honor God above man? Am I seeking only His Glory and not the glory of myself or another created being or created thing? Where do I spend the most of my efforts and time? What occupies the most time in the realm of my thinking? Do I read more in the newspaper than I do in God’s Word? Do I enjoy the company of non-believers more than I do the company of believers?
“…for you gladly honor each other but don’t care about the honor that comes from the one who alone is God.”
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Posted in 2 Responses to “Glory Hogs”
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Very good thoughts Pastor Jeff!
Since I cannot figure out which e-mail address to use to get a message to you I thought I would use your blog!
I wanted to share a link to a message from John Piper that I heard this morning on the way to office. This is probably one of the best messages on why there is suffering in the world that I have heard in a long time. here
talk to you later
Good stuff, I’m sure… I’m a longtime follower of JP and regular subscriber to his blog and podcasts. I’m sure my “podcatcher” has these; now might be a good time for me to update my iPod. Thanks for the head’s up. -
Looking forward to the weekend…
jb