being ordinary

"...the reality is that God calls most Christians to ordinariness, to serve him in the everyday, in the humdrum – in the home, in the workplace, in the church, in the community and in the nation...

But remember I said that we are called to extraordinary ordinariness. Yes we are to serve God in these everyday run-of-the mill roles, but we are to excel in them. We are to be extraordinary wives, husbands, parents, children, employees and employers. We are to be the best ordinary we can be. And that’s what will make a lasting difference to the church and the world.

Extraordinary ordinariness will have a much greater impact than mere extraordinariness. Yes, the latest Christian sports star will get a million blog posts written about him every time he breathes. Yes, the latest kid to write about his last trip to heaven and back will make millions for his parents. Yes, the newest mega church pastors will wow CNN for a few weeks.

But the greatest and the most permanent good will come from the impact and influence of extraordinarily ordinary Christians excelling in their ordinary days and duties.

Isn’t that so encouraging! That will revolutionize the way I change my baby’s diapers, tidy my yard, talk to my employer, manage my money, drive my car, participate in politics, behave in my marriage, and so on. On one level, it’s so very ordinary. But God blesses faithful ordinariness, and especially extraordinary ordinariness to transform lives, families, churches, communities, and nations, one ordinary life at a time."

David Murray, Ordinary 

video: Matt Chandler - the explicit gospel

Explicit Gospel from The Village Church on Vimeo.

true happiness part 5: shocking attitudes

What is happiness? Jesus turns the world's idea of happiness upside down in the beatitudes (read part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4). They also turn the religious establishment's idea of happiness upside down!

True happiness is found in:

• having no confidence in your own performance NOT self-esteem or self-righteous "achievements"
• being grieved over sin and repenting NOT ignoring and justifying our sin
• putting others first NOT looking after number one
• recognising our total dependance on God NOT self-sufficiency or God as a co-pilot
• showing mercy NOT demanding justice
  
• examining internal attitudes NOT perfecting external behaviour
• seeking peace NOT seeking comfort
• enduring difficulties because of an eternal hope NOT relying on present circumstances

Jesus says it isn't the self-sufficient, it isn't the self-righteous, it isn't the proud, it isn't the strong, it isn't the capable, it isn't the courageous, it isn't the confident, it isn't the satisfied, it isn't the angry, the powerful, the rebellious...who are going to come into the kingdom, it is rather the broken, the mourning, the meek, the hungry, the thirsty, the merciful, the pure, the peacemakers and the persecuted and the reviled and the slandered who make up His kingdom. They're the real kingdom citizens. Well, this is an absolutely shocking message. John Macarthur

video: sex, marraige and fairytales

thirsty for more

"When the eyes of our hearts are enlightened, we read the Bible not for reference or tips, but for water. We read for more and more knowledge of the hope we have been called to, for more and more glimpses of the riches of our glorious inheritance...the transforming revelation of God in his holy word stimulates thirst for more revelation in his word. It gives us the natural thirst and the satisfaction of that thirst, and therefore it installs in us the natural desire to come to the Bible for what we need to be truly alive."

Jared Wilson, Gospel Wakefulness