04.08.12 – Amazing Grace

]]> http://www.thealley.org/2012/04/easter-2012-amazing-grace/feed/ 0 http://www.thealley.org/2012/04/the-isaiah-fast/ http://www.thealley.org/2012/04/the-isaiah-fast/#comments Mon, 02 Apr 2012 14:25:51 +0000 Luther95 http://www.thealley.org/?p=5416

03.25.12 – The Isaiah Fast – Isaiah 58

]]> http://www.thealley.org/2012/04/the-isaiah-fast/feed/ 0 http://www.thealley.org/2012/03/isaiah-fast/ http://www.thealley.org/2012/03/isaiah-fast/#comments Fri, 23 Mar 2012 16:09:15 +0000 Luther95 http://www.thealley.org/?p=5411 Starting on Sunday 3/25 we will be doing an Isaiah Fast.  We’re excited for you to join us on this ten day challenge. The Isaiah fast is meant to be a fast of heart and hands and not of want. Below is a guide taken from Isaiah chapter 58 in which each day of the fast has suggestions for how to accomplish the Isaiah 58 challenge. Doing this with heart motivation takes planning. We encourage you to take some time and plan out your fast.

Click on the image below to download the guide:

THINK

By John Piper

Published by Crossway, Wheaton, IL (2010)

In this book, Pastor John Piper addresses how to find the proper balance among thinking, feeling, and doing. On one hand, we are called to be like little children and put complete trust in Christ in a humble, child-like way (Matthew 18:3-4). On the other hand, we are instructed: “do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature” (1 Corinthians 14:20).

John Piper highlights how it is not either/or, but rather it is both/and. We are called to love the Lord with all our heart (emotion and volition), soul (life as a whole), mind (thinking), and strength (action). When it comes to thinking, Pastor Piper points out several things:

• God has revealed himself through the Bible. The Bible is a book and requires thinking.
• Our thinking should be wholly engaged to do all it can to awaken and express the heartfelt fullness of treasuring God above all things.
• Knowing God is the root of loving God.
• The heart of God’s wisdom is God’s passion to display the glory of His grace in Christ for the everlasting enjoyment of those who believe in Him.
• God opposes humans’ attempt to find Him through their own wisdom.

He concludes his book with ideas for how to glorify God in our thinking:

• Align all your thinking with God’s ultimate purpose to magnify the supreme worth of His glory – the glory of Christ.
• Like a child, humble yourself under the mighty hand of God.
• Delight yourself in the Word of God day and night.
• Make all of your thinking an act of love for people.

“Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding.”  — 2 Timothy 2:7

“If you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.”  Proverbs 2: 3-6

A colleague of Jon’s, Dr. Charles Sands also had some commentary on the book and has agreed to share those with this review as well…

I am reading a book entitled Think: The Life of the Mind and the Love of God by John Piper. John Piper is pastor for preaching and vision at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis and is the author of many books. This particular book by John Piper is a “plea to embrace serious thinking as a means of loving God and people.” It is an encouragement to “see thinking as a necessary, God-ordained means of knowing God.” The author states that the ultimate goal of life is to glorify God, and one means of doing that is by doing serious thinking. Thinking is one of the means our Father has given us “to know him, love him, and serve people.” Thus the author encourages us to do some serious thinking. He cautions us however that “over-intellectualism is a plague just like anti-intellectualism”. “I would like to encourage you to think, but not to be too impressed with yourself when you do.” The author states that thinking plays a crucial role in “coming to faith and in sustaining faith.” The author, when using the word “thinking” is referring primarily to the “amazing act of reading” and suggests that the “best reading of the most insightful literature (especially the Bible) involves serious thinking.” “The aim of this book is to encourage serious, faithful, humble thinking that leads to the true knowledge of God, which leads to loving him, which overflows in loving others.” The book is about the Christian commitment to the life of the mind and developing it to know God, to serve him, and to serve people. If you are looking for a good read on the life of the mind in the Christian context, I recommend this book to you.