We are the people of the book. The book, of course, is the Bible. Not books about the Bible. Not books that tell stories about people who are trying to follow the Bible. Not books about fictional characters that relate their lives to the Bible somehow. All these a good (I may be cringing a bit here) but they cannot be substitutes for gold. The Bible is a supernatural book, understood by supernatural enabling (1 Corinthians 2), for supernatural transformation that cannot happen any other way. Being "lost" in the text, in the same way, but very different, that we become lost in a novel or a movie or an adventure down the Amazon river. Of course, the adventure of the sons and daughters of God, as they traverse the pages of Scripture has no equal in this life. We are delving into the mysteries of godliness, the mystical depths of trinitarian salvation, the rescue of our own souls from God's justice. May we be people of the book! And Rosaria Butterfield understands it well.
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Fasting
It’s the season for fasting and prayer at TACC. Many of us have never fasted and so this will be an exploration in a new biblical discipline. Jesus expected us to fast. He said that when he left us that we would fast. So why is it so rare? I place much of the weight of this omission on
Keep ReadingIt’s Not a Simple Symbol
10 ways to fight for the gifts of grace that come from the divinely ordained fellowship of the saints around the Supper of Remembrance.
Keep ReadingI Ride A Road Bike
I ride a road bike (sometimes), and a mountain bike (more often). I can usually carry a spirited, even religious, conversation with anyone about either discipline. You don't have to ask me to talk about it
Keep ReadingOn Doing Devotions Well
The heart and soul of our devotion to God, in our time of devotions, to use an old but good word, must be the Word of God. Of all the spiritual disciplines, the Word must be the center, and the center of the Word is Christ. This time of singular and focused devotion requires the help of the Spirit and so requires our sincere prayer to him for help. Humility in our inability to derive benefit all by ourselves must be at the heart of devotions.
Keep ReadingDelight
When we gather we encourage each other to read the Bible with joy and delight. We do so because: 1. The Bible is the perfect, without error, very words of God to us that speak primarily of His glory and grace in sending His Son to live and die and rise from the dead in order to rule all creation. They instruct us to delight
Keep ReadingWhen We Gather Together: We Have a Benediction
What’s the benediction at the close of our worship service for? It is a request for God to pour out His grace in response to our worship and renewed conviction to love and serve Him in all we do. It’s a blessing in
Keep ReadingWhen We Gather Together: We Make Announcements
We make verbal announcements of ministry opportunities at TACC so that the believers at TACC can serve. We do not, and in fact, cannot announce every event because we do not have enough time and we are good at forgetting. That’s why when you send your husband to the store, if he has to remember more than 2 items, you give him a list. That’s also why
Keep ReadingWhen We Gather Together: We Pray
We pray in our corporate worship service because God answers prayer. Prayer is one of the first acts of a new believer, and the most natural of actions for all believers. Prayer is coming to the God of all grace who loves to hear and answer our requests. Additionally
Keep ReadingWhen We Gather Together: We Give
Our giving is a part of our worship on Sunday mornings. Giving as worship is expanded upon in 2 Corinthians 8-9. The following is a summary of the teaching on giving by Paul.
Keep ReadingI've been thinking recently about the benefits of desperation. The American lifestyle and enormous blessings that God has bestowed upon us does not lend itself to this mindset. When things go "badly" we often wonder what God is doing, or what we have done wrong, or how unfair God has been. What about His grace in turning our hearts to him? Could it be a spiritual secret that we have neglected. John Piper's reflections on the Apostle Paul and Hudson Taylor lend us valuable assistance.
Feb 12
2014
I'm Better Than You | Challies.com
Having trouble loving? Maybe Tim Challies can uncover some of the root. His little piece on our pride is not easy to read, but it's good. Reminds me of what was said about the Aslan, "of course he's not safe, but he's good..."
I'm not much of a movie-goer. And I prefer to sleep through a Sunday afternoon NFL game or golf match. However, we do live in an entertainment via some version of the flat screen era - iPod, ipad, computer, television or movie theatre. And, it does matter what we ingest. There is not a square inch of real estate that God's gracious sovereignty does not reign. We must be in but not of, culturally aware but not stained, informed and able to engage - but living in such a way and in an obvious manner differently and at times awkwardly. Trevin Wax navigates the entertainment maze of our decisions with some penetrating thoughts...read on...
Feb 4
2014
Praise befits the upright
Praise befits the upright. Psalm 33:1 A spirit of praise toward God is not just obligatory. It is fitting. It is beautiful. That's what the verse is saying.
There are no such things as "Authenticity Points". It's time to stop focusing on our brokenness and concentrate on modeling "Christ-likeness". From the article: "Sin is necessarily part of our story as redeemed people. We shouldn't ignore or make light of it. But we also shouldn't wallow in it or take it lightly, for the sake of earning authenticity points."