Ten Questions to Ask for the New Year

Don Whitney provides ten questions to ask for the New Year:

1. What's one thing you could do this year to increase your enjoyment of God?
2. What's the most humanly impossible thing you will ask God to do this year?
3. What's the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your family life this year?
4. In which spiritual discipline do you most want to make progress this year, and what will you do about it?
5. What is the single biggest time-waster in your life, and what will you do about it this year?
6. What is the most helpful new way you could strengthen your church?
7. For whose salvation will you pray most fervently this year?
8. What's the most important way you will, by God's grace, try to make this year different from last year?
9. What one thing could you do to improve your prayer life this year?
10. What single thing that you plan to do this year will matter most in ten years? In eternity?

You can read his entire article and download the pdf version of this here.

On the Incarnation

My good friend Josh writes on the incarnation:

To feel and comprehend the magnitude of the birth of Christ, one need only to turn to the Holy Scriptures where God lays forth His redeeming plan of salvation, giving hope and light to the depraved souls that walk the earth. Before time even began, God knew that eventually sin would enter the perfect world He would soon create. He knew that man, not perfect, because He and He alone is perfect, would fall prey to the temptations given under the domain of darkness and that redemption would have to be accomplished. He also knew, however, that the only path to true glorifying redemption would be a perfect sacrifice, without reproach, that would bear the darkness of the wretched world. Therefore, because of the fullness of His immeasurable grace and truth, God himself entered the world that He would become this perfect sacrifice the world so desperately needed.

Read the rest of his post here.

Spurgeon and Edwards

I recently finished reading The Power in Prayer by Charles Spurgeon. Though short in length, this book delves far beyond the surface of its subject matter and provides helpful insights into both the reasons and modes of prayer. Starting from the most basic aspects of prayer, Spurgeon masterfully progresses to some deeper and perhaps less thought of facets of the praying life. I especially appreciated Spurgeon's challenge to prepare myself as I come before the Lord of the Universe to make my petitions as well as his treatment of "Order and Argument in Prayer", which I will be posting on later (Lord willing). In all, I recommend this book to you wholeheartedly for your edification.

Another resource that has been encouraging and enlightening to me has been the audiobook A Short Life of Jonathan Edwards, written by George Marsden and produced by Hovel Audio. This audiobook has been an insightful overview of Edwards' life that sets itself apart from other biographies in its comparison and contrast of Edwards to his contemporary Benjamin Franklin. Another short book (about four hours in length), A Short Life receives my full endorsement.

The "X" in X-mas

R.C. Sproul explains why it might not mean what you think. See his article here.

Christmas Giveaway

Trevin Wax has another Christmas giveaway this year. The winner will receive an ESV Study Bible, Trevin Wax's latest book, Holy Subversion, and these ten books for free:

1. Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1859-2009- Greg Wills
2. Unfashionable- Tullian Tchividjian
3. Deep Church- Jim Belcher
4. The Case for Life- Scott Klusendorf
5. The God Who Smokes- Timothy Stoner
6. Adopted for Life- Russell Moore
7. Manhunt- James Swanson
8. Counterfeit Gods- Tim Keller
9. Why We Love the Church- Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck
10. The God I Don't Understand- Christopher Wright

To enter for this contest, visit his blog here.

Billy

Billy Graham has been a faithful servant of God for many years and a man that has always been known for his moral strength and dependence on God. I recently was able to get a closer look at his life through the eyes of one of his close friends.

Billy: A Personal Look at Billy Graham, the World's Best-loved Evangelist, by Sherwood Eliot Wirt, is less of a biography about the events in Mr. Graham's life and more about revealing the character of a great servant of God as seen from a man who was close to him for many years. If you want to get to know Billy Graham and how God worked through him throughout his many crusades over the year, then I recommend this book to you.

The Artificiality of Christmas

With the Christmas tree up in my house and hot chocolate in my mug, I would say that the Christmas season is in full swing. And, truly, I love this time of year –the carols, the presentations, the snow, the decoration, and, most importantly, the opportunity to celebrate my Savior's birth. The whole atmosphere is exhilarating.

But despite all of these things, there is a portion of the Christmas season that bothers me. There is an element of artificiality that pervades this time of year like no other. Every Christmas, millions of people around the world (particularly in America) put up artificial trees, teach their children about a fake gift-giver, and put on a fraudulent show of charity to match the Christmas season. Now, I have nothing against artificial trees, nor do I think that there is anything wrong with Santa Claus.

However, the latter of these problems causes me some trouble. In my experience, too many people fake a sense of joy and kindness just for the sake of the season. For some, this manifests itself in toothy smiles and a seasonal hospitality that covers up an otherwise discontented and angry soul. For others, their charity is obvious by the large sums of money and material goods they give the Salvation Army and Good Will, while throughout the rest of the year they refuse to give anything more than will get them a tax cut. This is so like human nature, to use one particular season to ease the conscience for the entire year. It breaks my heart.

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that these people give as they do. There are poor and needy people who need it all and more. If these people didn't fake what they did, then I can't think to imagine the amount of people each year that would be left out in the cold (some more literally than others). No, I do not want any of these people to give any less. Count me as the last to discourage anyone from giving, whatever the motive. What I want to see is not less giving, but more giving from the heart. I earnestly desire that people would give from their abundance and serve the poor from a heart made new and released from sin –a heart that is so in love with its Creator that it gives in and out of season, with or without pressure, under any circumstance.

And most importantly, I want these people to put away their facades, to realize their true sinful nature, and to see the blazing truth of Christmas –that God sent His only begotten Son, Jesus, to earth so that He might live and die and rise again to save us all from our artificiality and sin, and to make us real. This is my hope this Christmas.

Advent

Desiring God has several good posts on the meaning of Advent, the period of time leading up to Christmas. Advent has never been something that my family has been dedicated to observing, but these posts make me want to make it a lasting tradition for me and my family in coming years. The symbolism involved and the idea of anticipating Jesus' birth helps to put my heart in the right place during this hectic time of year. Here are the posts:

What is Advent?
Advent: Standing in the Middle
Looking Back: Advent Candles

Born to Die

This is one of my favorite Christmas songs:

"Born to Die"
They never knew a dark night
always had the Son's light
on their face
Perfect in glory
Broken by the story
of untold grace...
come that day

Majesty had come down
Glory had succumbed now
to flesh and bone
In the arms of a manger
In the hands of strangers
that could not know
Just who they hold

Chorus:
And the angels filled the sky
All of heaven wondered why
Why their King would choose to be
Be a baby born to die

And all fell silent
For the cry of an infant,
the voice of God
Was dividing history
For those with eyes to see,
the Son would shine
From earth that night

Chorus

Bridge:
To break the chains
Of guilt and sin
To find us here
To pull us in
So we can join in Heaven's song
And with one voice around the throne

Chorus:
All the Angels filled the sky
And I can't help but wonder why
Why the King would choose to be
Be a baby born for me
Be a baby born to die

By Bebo Norman, Christmas... from the Realms of Glory
You can listen to the song here.

Why Did they Kill Jesus?

Kevin Deyoung has a helpful post on why Jesus was killed. He dispels the notion that it was simply because "Jesus loved too much". I encourage you to check it out.

'Tis the Season

It's only December first and I've already been in the Christmas mood for about four days. Saturday night, I walked down my street to watch a Christmas light show at a neighbor's house. Sunday, I listened to two Christmas sermons. And in addition to that, I've only been listening to Christmas music since the day after Thanksgiving.

I guess I'm just trying to say that, perhaps more than in years past, I am really ready for Christmas this year. It's not that I want gifts or anything like that; I'm just excited to be celebrating my Savior's birth. This is one of the seasons where it's easy to focus on worldly things --money, traditions, and material things. But, if we make an effort to put the focus where it belongs --on Christ-- then this can be a season unlike any other.