J. Sidlow Baxter, Awake, My Heart
(Grand Rapids: Kregel Classics, 1994)
What is the difference between an obstacle and an opportunity? Our attitude toward it. Every opportunity has a difficulty, and every difficulty has an opportunity.
Book Review – Ordering Your Private World by Gordon MacDonald
One of the first books I was assigned to read during my freshman year at Bible college was Ordering Your Private World, by Gordon MacDonald. Being a green, new student, fresh out of high school and into the big world for the first time, I had no idea what to expect, or any indication of just how much this book would impact my world.
It was phenomenal! I think I read it multiple times that year, and a few times after that as well. The impact that it had on my personal life was indescribable. After college, I kept that copy of the book, but didn’t read it much, although its principles continued to form a solid base for much of my personal life structure. And it has always been one of the most impactful books on my life.
Last fall, I decided to pull it out and add it to my list to read over the winter, and then I found that it had been updated and revised, so I grabbed a new copy to read instead. And once again, it holds a tremendous influence on my life and how I seek to order my inner world.
Gordon MacDonald presents some of the most practical input and advice into how to order the private world within, so that the public world can remain as effective as it can be. Looking at such topics as rest and leisure, time management, and reading, MacDonald presents several excellent principles to help make the inner life as stable as it can be. Is this exhaustive? Of course not. There are other things one can do to help maintain balance and order in the inner life. But this is an excellent place to start.
4 Steps To Resolving A Crisis
Being Deliberate With Our Wives and Kids
Earlier this week, I had a conversation with a hurting dad. He had taken his family on vacation. They had big plans, and were planning on enjoying a few days away from the routine. But the very first night, his oldest daughter ran away. All of a sudden, vacation turned into crisis.
The family returned home, the police started searching, the next day, the girl was found and brought home. She did it again later that week. Only this time, her parents knew where she went, and were in communication with the parents of the friend she was staying with.
I don’t know all the specifics of this family’s home situation. I don’t have any idea why this happened. Nor do I need to know. What I do know is this: this dad was hurting. His daughter was making some poor choices and it was very painful for the rest of the family.
I had the opportunity to visit with this dad a few evenings ago. I’m not sure anything I said helped him very much. But it was obvious that his daughter’s decisions were hurting him. And he was facing some tough decisions: How should he respond… harshly? or with love? What sort of punishment was necessary? What changes needed to be made to prevent this from happening again?
I don’t know if he was actually thinking all those things. I know I would have been. And I would have been questioning my role as a father. Could I have done anything to prevent this? Did I fail somehow?
Challies.com
Posted: December 5, 2017
Posted: December 5, 2017
Challies.com
Posted: December 22, 2017
Posted: December 22, 2017
If you have been around JeffRandleman.com for very long, you know that I am all about developing the habit of spending time in God’s word on a daily basis. You can even subscribe and get a free Bible Reading Plan that will help you read the entire Bible each year (More about that in a coming post).
Tim Challies, one of my favorite bloggers, shared an article written by Paul Carter on how you can develop this habit that is worth taking the time to read. In it, he makes several key suggestions that can help you create a lifelong habit of reading your Bible.
Challies.com
Posted: December 15, 2017
Posted: December 15, 2017
Finding something worth reading can be a bigger challenge than many people realize. There are a lot of books out there that simply are not worth putting the time and effort into, and you walk away with nothing, or with false teaching and deceit. Thankfully, though, there are multiple beneficial options. Tim Challies has gathered several book lists of the top Christian books of 2017 and compiled them into one easy location. Neither Tim Challies nor I can endorse all of these personally, but you can check out the reviews for yourself and see if it’s something you want to read.
One Degree To Another
Posted: December 7, 2017
Posted: December 7, 2017
We are just a couple days away from the New Year, and many people are thinking of the big picture, setting goals, and making resolutions. Those are all good things to one degree or another. But without a plan and strategy to implement them, you might not get very far with any of them. This article by Scott Slayton provides nine probing questions to ask yourself as you enter into the New Year.
If you are looking for a reading plan that will challenge your thinking for this year, then look no further than the 2018 Christian Reading Challenge. There are several different levels to achieve, based upon your own reading ability and speed, or the amount of time you have available. This is a great challenge for someone wanting to develop a new love for reading, and will expose you to some of the most valuable reading material you can find, outside the Bible, to promote your own personal and spiritual growth. Go ahead. Give it a shot!