Paul Tripp writes about the mid-life crisis in his book, Lost in the Middle. Walking us through the challenges and conflicts of heart that can erupt at these times, he makes this excellent point:
The presence, power, practicality, and glory of God’s grace in Christ Jesus are most evident and effective when we have hit the [...]
Archive for the ‘Idols of the heart’ Category
Hitting the wall, finding grace
Posted in Idols of the heart, Sanctification, Sin on October 1, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Discontentment and Pornography
Posted in Idols of the heart, Sanctification, Sin on October 19, 2007 | 1 Comment »
Some insightful words on the workings of the human heart by Rick Phillips originally posted at the Reformation 21 blog on October 3rd:
“Great comments on porn, Phil and Carl. My pastoral experience dealing with this issue has taught me that this issue is tied to a broader issue of idolatry that becomes practically an entire worldview [...]
Conviction and the cure
Posted in Heart Change, Idols of the heart, Law of Moses, Sanctification, Sin on February 26, 2007 | 2 Comments »
Our pastors have just finished preaching through the ten commandments. They have done an incredible job of helping us to feel the weight and glory of God’s holiness; but without letting us forget that the law sits on the bedrock foundation of the gospel (“I am the Lord your God, who brought you . . [...]
Lust Part 10: Conclusion–Fighting fire with…promises
Posted in Bible, Culture, Heart Change, Idols of the heart, Lust, Sanctification, Sin on February 24, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
As we conclude this series on battling lust, we must look at a topic that has proven invaluable to me and to others in this area. It might strike us as somewhat counter-intuitive. One powerful expression of it comes from John Piper’s book Future Grace:
“We must fight fire with fire. The fire of lust’s pleasures must [...]
Lust Part 9: Media and the Internet
Posted in Bible, Christ is Lord, Culture, Heart Change, Idols of the heart, Lust, Sanctification, Sin, Theology on February 23, 2007 | 2 Comments »
Susannah Wesley told her son in a letter:
“Take this rule: whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes off the relish of spiritual things; in short, whatever increases the strength and authority of your body over your mind, that thing is sin to you, however innocent [...]
Lust Part 8: “Lone rangers are dead rangers”
Posted in Bible, Christ is Lord, Heart Change, Idols of the heart, Love, Lust, Sanctification, Sin, Theology on February 16, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
“Lone rangers are dead rangers,” is the title of Josh Harris’ chapter on accountability from his book, Sex is not the problem (lust is). In the land of the free and the home of the brave, individualism and self-reliance are celebrated often, whether in sports, business, or politics. It is hubris, not humility, that makes [...]
Lust Part 7: Temptation is in the details
Posted in Bible, Books, Culture, Heart Change, Idols of the heart, Lust, Sanctification, Sin, Theology on February 13, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
In college as a music major (classical guitar), I had numerous recitals and concerts for which to prepare. Picking out the music for these was always fun, scanning the repertoire of significant works within my ability, listening to recordings, etc. That was followed by the early days of practice, getting acclimated to a piece, comfortable [...]
Lust Part 6: Real power for real change
Posted in Bible, Christ is Lord, Culture, Heart Change, Idols of the heart, Love, Lust, Sanctification, Sin, Theology on February 10, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
Lust is a sin. Sinners love sin. I am a sinner. Hmm. I have a problem.
This captures the dilemma in which we find ourselves. Lust is a sin problem, which is the most serious kind of problem. That’s the bad news. The good news is the gospel, that blessed word which means literally, “good news.” [...]
Lust Part 5: The heart of the matter
Posted in Bible, Christ is Lord, Culture, Heart Change, Idols of the heart, Love, Lust, Sin on February 9, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
Success in any war depends upon knowing your enemy. The difficulty in Iraq has largely been because we did not know our enemy as well as we thought that we did.
When we battle lust, we must understand who or what we are battling. Are we battling the “demon of lust,” who is defeated by “casting [...]
Lust Part 3: Christ is Lord of our leisure
Posted in Christ is Lord, Heart Change, Idols of the heart, Law of Moses, Lust, Sin on February 5, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
God gives us rest and leisure as a gift to be enjoyed. Since it is a gift from him and since we belong to him, the way we receive and enjoy this gift is an important part of how we worship and honor God. There are some principles we can draw from this:
We ought to [...]
