Results tagged “discernment”
Outgrowing the Need for Grace (10/21/09 - 13 Comments)
Last night was one of those nights where the kids kept me up for pretty much the whole thing. This morning I tried to do some writing but my brain was still clearly lying in bed. Therefore I am going to post something I wrote a couple of years ago; it is a topic that has been in my mind a good bit lately and I hope you can benefit from it. It's no secret...
They Were Ready (07/21/08 - 11 Comments)
At four o’clock in the afternoon of August 2, 2005, I was just a few minutes into a long online training session with a software manufacturer. As we spoke, and as the technician showed me the features of this software, I suddenly noticed that it had gotten very dark in my office. I looked outside and saw that the sky was as dark as ever I’ve seen an afternoon summer sky. Within minutes rain began...
Outgrowing the Need for Grace (02/25/08 - 21 Comments)
It’s no secret around here that I love the book of Proverbs and consider it my “home page” in the Bible. I read through Proverbs at least once a year and, whenever I’m not sure what else to read, I turn to it. And while I love Proverbs and envy the wisdom of Solomon I find something really sobering about his life. Whenever I consider Solomon, I am faced with the question of how a...
Discernment and Long Division (02/11/08 - 12 Comments)
Do you remember learning to do long division back when you were in grade school? It was probably fourth or fifth grade when we learned to do it. It was a long and laborious process and one that, even in my day, seemed irrelevant. After all, we all had calculators and we knew that they could do it quickly and easily. With the tapping of a few buttons we could get our solution and it...
"The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment" Blog Tour (Day 11) (01/21/08 - 5 Comments)
Today marks the end of The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment blog tour. This was meant to be only a two week tour, but events conspired to keep me from visiting SharperIron on the scheduled date. We decided we would add one date to the tour so I could make that stop. The guys at SharperIron focused on the common belief that discernment is intuitive rather than something that requires dedicated thought and practice. How does...
"The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment" Blog Tour (Day 10) (01/18/08 - 4 Comments)
Today is the second to last day of the blog tour for my new book The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment. For the past two weeks I’ve been answering questions that have been asked by a variety of bloggers. Though something neither I nor Crossway had tried before, this blog tour has been fun, I think, and I’ve been pleased to receive quite a lot of positive feedback. Today the tour moves to Church Matters, the...
"The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment" Blog Tour (Day 9) (01/17/08 - 2 Comments)
We are nearing the end of The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment blog tour and today the tour takes me to Michael Spencer’s blog. I appreciated these words from Michael: “Those of you looking for an argument can move along. I’m sure Tim and I disagree on many things, but scripture tells us that it’s a good thing when brothers dwell together in unity. Our agreement on the Good News of Jesus outweighs our disagreements.” He...
"The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment" Blog Tour (Day 8) (01/16/08 - 0 Comments)
Today brings us to the eighth day of The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment blog tour. For those who were concerned about the fact that we missed the planned stop at SharperIron, you’ll notice in the schedule below that we’ve added one more date to the tour and we’ll finish up at SharperIron on Monday. Today I stop by for a visit with the Pyromaniacs. I’ve been reading this blog since it first came into existence—back...
"The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment" Blog Tour (Day 7) (01/15/08 - 3 Comments)
The blog tour for The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment marches on and today makes a stop at Between Two Worlds, the blog of Justin Taylor. Chances are that if you read my blog, you also read Justin’s or are, at the very least, familiar with it. Justin’s site is an indispensable source for news and good links to other resources and it’s a blog I recommend above just about any other. Here is what Justin...
"The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment" Blog Tour (Day 6) (01/14/08 - 0 Comments)
The blog tour for The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment continues today with a visit to Jollyblogger. If my memory serves me well (never something I can take for granted), Jollyblogger is one of the first blogs I began to read on a regular basis. David Wayne, a pastor in Maryland, doesn’t blog quite often enough, but when he does, his articles and reflections are always worth reading. Reflecting his vocation, David asked the following: In...
"The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment" Blog Tour (Day 5) (01/11/08 - 8 Comments)
This morning I continue with The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment blog tour by answering a question at Gender Blog, the official blog of the Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. The question is one that is important, interesting and, I found, quite difficult to answer adequately and sensitively. Here is what they asked: It is not an uncommon experience reported by female pastors today that they believe they have received an actual call from God...
"The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment" Blog Tour (Day 4) (01/10/08 - 12 Comments)
Today The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment blog tour moves to Adrian Warnock’s blog. In case you’ve missed it on previous days, the tour works like this: the owner of another blog poses a question about discernment and my answer is posted on his or her blog on an appointed day. I follow the comments made on the blog, addressing them as they arise. It has become, I hope, a chance to facilitate a productive and...
"The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment" Blog Tour (Day 3) (01/09/08 - 0 Comments)
Today The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment blog tour moves to The A-Team Blog. In case you’ve missed it on previous days, the tour works like this: the owner of another blog poses a question about discernment and my answer is posted on his or her blog on an appointed day. I follow the comments made on the blog, addressing them as they arise. It has become, I hope, a chance to facilitate a productive and...
"The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment" Blog Tour (Day 2) (01/08/08 - 0 Comments)
Today marks the second day of The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment Blog Tour. The tour works like this: the owner of another blog will pose a question about discernment and my answer will be posted on his or her blog on an appointed day. I will follow the comments made on the blog, addressing them as they arise. It will be, I hope, a chance to facilitate a productive and God-glorifying conversation about the issue...
"The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment" Blog Tour (Day 1) (01/07/08 - 5 Comments)
As I mentioned recently, this week and the next will see me participating in a “blog tour” in support of my new book, The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment. The owner of another blog will pose a question about discernment and my answer will be posted on his or her blog on an appointed day. I will follow the comments made on the blog, addressing them as they arise. It will be, I hope, a chance...
The Need for Constant Practice (10/29/07 - 3 Comments)
Next year is an Olympic year and in the summer of 2008, athletes will converge on Beijing to complete in 302 events across 28 different sports. Already we are beginning to hear about qualifying events and national Olympic committees choosing the teams they will send to China to represent their countries. There isn't an athlete who isn't already dreaming of earning a spot on the Olympic team and earning a gold medal for his country....
Guarding the Deposit (10/25/07 - 13 Comments)
“O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you...” One of my favorite television programs is Antiques Roadshow. The program affords people the opportunity to present their antique possessions—whether furniture, paintings, toys, or anything else— and to have them appraised by some of the world’s foremost experts in antiquities. For every episode the producers single out ten or fifteen items and show an expert providing a detailed description and valuation of the item. Each section closes...
The Gift of Spiritual Discernment (Part 3) (09/03/07 - 2 Comments)
What do I do with the gift of discernment? What if I want it? What if I don't have it? This is the third and final entry in this brief series dealing with the gift of spiritual discernment. The first part is available here: The Gift of Spiritual Discernment. In this first article we looked at the question of “What is the gift of discernment?” and concluded that “Men and women with the gift of...
The Gift of Spiritual Discernment (Part 2) (08/31/07 - 6 Comments)
How can I know how the Holy Spirit has gifted me? This is the second part in what I anticipate will be a brief three-part series examining the spiritual gift of discernment. The first part is available here: The Gift of Spiritual Discernment. In this first article we looked at the question of "What is the gift of discernment?" and concluded that "Men and women with the gift of discernment are specially gifted in distinguishing...
The Gift of Spiritual Discernment (08/29/07 - 9 Comments)
A brief examination of the gift of spiritual discernment. As you well know if you are a regular reader of this site, I've written a book called The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment and that book was the result of spending almost a year studying the topic of spiritual discernment. As I hunted down all the references I could to discernment and as I studied what the Bible has to say about the topic, I was...