If God gives you time

I'm really glad that God gave me time to put this together earlier this week because our youngest is ill and now I really don't have time for any of the stuff listed here! But maybe your weekend looks a little less hectic!


Just to start...I'm writing a study for the fall on the book of Colossians. I have been thinking a lot about chapter 1 and I love these verses. How good it is that God holds everything together in my life. Colossians 1:15-20...

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

And I love how this video of Louie Giglio highlights this Colossians truth:





Prince Caspian opens today! Click here to see clips and movies times for your area. But for those of you who loves movies, it looks like there are some other good ones coming out this summer. This guy gives the round-up plus his two second take.


If you are like me, you think that times of rest are really when you will be able to get away and be with God. You picture endless quiet times...good books read...peaceful praying. Unfortunately for me, my flesh usually comes with me. That means that the very thing I want to do? Can't seem to get that done. But the thing I wish I would never do again? That I manage to accomplish. (If that sounds familiar, you've probably read this.) There's someone else out there in cyberworld who is apparently a lot like me or at least knows that I exist because he's written an excellent post called How not to waste your summer. Check it out.


C. J. Mahaney has finished up his series on modesty. Yes. I know I've posted about it each of the last two weeks! But this week, he's added discussion questions for us to check our hearts and to use when talking about this with our daughters. Good stuff to consider especially if your daughter is headed to the teen years. You can also pre-order the book that this chapter was taken from, "Worldliness: Resisting the Seduction of a Fallen World", for just under $13 with shipping by going here and using the coupon code: 8SG1.


One of my favorite sites is The Theology Program which is brought to us by Reclaiming the Mind ministries. They have great online classes. This week I discovered a great little link to use when studying Scripture and theology gets over my head. Check out their word of the day.


Finally, I've been thinking and writing about grief this week. As we think about God and our suffering, consider this great quote...

It is the cross that gives God his credibility. The only God I believe in is the one Nietzsche (the nineteenth-century German philosopher) ridiculed as ‘God on the cross.’ In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it?

The crucified one is the God for me! He laid aside his immunity to pain. He entered our world of flesh and blood, tears and death. He suffered for us, dying in our place in order that we might be forgiven. Our sufferings become more manageable in light of his. There is still a question mark against human suffering, but over it we boldly stamp another mark, the cross, which symbolizes divine suffering.”

- John Stott, Why I Am a Christian, 63