Richard Lovelace, Renewal As a Way of Life
I love Lovelace. Richard Lovelace’s Renewal As a Way of Life provides a feast for the mind and heart. Though I found that it wasn’t until about halfway through the book that Lovelace’s articulation of a life of continual gospel application and renewal really took off, this book is well worth your time.
A few favorite quotes:
“God wants us to be free from thinking about ourselves long enough to consider what his love has done.”
“Encountering the biblical God can be a deeply unsettling experience.”
“Unless God changes our hearts, we are actively allergic to him!”
“The shallowness of many people who are ‘saved’ may be due to the fact that they have never known themselves to be lost.”
“The harmony of God’s love and justice is perfectly symbolized by the death of Jesus on the cross. The crucifixion reveals the strictness of God’s justice in requiring a propitiation for all our sins. But it also shows the depth of his love because he himself offers the required sacrifice.”
“Walking with God is essentially a positive thing. The Bible does not point us toward constant introspection. Instead, it helps us to focus on the privileges of being in Christ and enjoying fellowship with God.”
Gospel Coalition Interviews
The Gospel Coalition Video Interviews are now available. These are really good.
Listen to Carson, Driscoll, Keller, and Piper answer questions like:
Who has been a major influence in your life?
How can you personally mentor young pastors?
How are pastors doing today understanding culture?
What is the state of preaching in America today?
What do you tell pastors about their family life?
What message do you have for men in the church?
What message do you have for women in the church?
What started the Gospel Coalition?
Bringing Heaven to Earth
Here’s my sermon from Sunday, Bringing Heaven to Earth, from Philippians 3:17-4:3. Give it a listen if you’d like to learn what Paul really means by the phrase “our citizenship is in heaven” and how this relates to my singing of an 80′s pop song in the middle of this sermon.
Things I Won’t Bring On Vacation
Next week I’ll be away on vacation. Here’s a list of what I won’t bring with me on my vacation:
1. My computer
2. My cell phone
3. Anything else that plugs in
BibleMan
Two weeks ago, after I finished preaching, I walked into my office to find this life size cardboard cut out of BibleMan next to my desk. My good friend from college, Andy Wass, came down from the Sacramento area to listen to me preach and his way of encouraging/pranking me in my preaching was to put BibleMan with a “Justin Buzzard” name tag in the center of my office along with an action packed BibleMan DVD.
I’d never heard of BibleMan before. Here’s the cheesy details about BibleMan from his website:
Bibleman – a human transformed by the Word of God – is back in an all new series – for a new generation of kids.
All the things kids know and love about Bibleman will be back, including a dedication to fighting injustice with the Word of God, more special effects than ever before, crafty villains and exciting story line.
The Hard Part
“There’s a secret that real writers know that wannabe writers don’t, and the secret is this: It’s not the writing part that’s hard. What’s hard is sitting down to write.”
-Steve Pressfield
Elie Weisel, Good Writing
“If you want to hold the reader’s attention, your sentence must be clear enough to be understood and enigmatic enough to pique curiosity. A good piece combines style and substance. It must not say everything–never say everything–while nevertheless suggesting there is an everything.”
-Elie Weisel
Stir Up Your Gifts
“To learn how you may serve Christ tomorrow, you must serve him today. Stir up your gifts and Christ’s call will be made clear.”
-Ed Clowney
