The following quote by J.I. Packer was posted by Justin Taylor over at Between Two Worlds. 

“. . . whereas to the Puritans communion with God was a great thing, to evangelicals today it is a comparatively small thing. The Puritans were concerned about communion with God in a way that we are not. The measure of our unconcern is the little that we say about it. When Christians meet, they talk to each other about their Christian work and Christian interests, their Christian acquaintances, the state of the churches, and the problems of theology—but rarely of their daily experience of God. Modern Christian books and magazines contain much about Christian doctrine, Christian standards, problems of Christian conduct, techniques of Christian service—but little about the inner realities of fellowship with God. Our sermons contain much sound doctrine—but little relating to the converse between the soul and the Saviour. We do not spend much time, alone or together, in dwelling on the wonder of the fact that God and sinners have communion at all; no, we just take that for granted, and give our minds to other matters. Thus we make it plain that communion with God is a small thing to us. But how different were the Puritans! The whole aim of their ‘practical and experimental’ preaching and writing was to explore the reaches of the doctrine and practice of man’s communion with God.”
         Packer, A Quest for Godliness, p. 215 (chapter 12).

I for one find that this issue of communion with God is both an immense struggle that pushes me daily to the cross and an important measure of my day to day pursuit of Christ. 

Did I joyfully dwell on God and the things of God throughout my day?  Was I constantly praising, thanking, and lifting up my sould to my God today?  Was I aware of God’s grace, God’s constant presence, and the reality of my access to God’s throne today?  Did I take time to relish and simply enjoy the beauty and truth of the gospel?  Was I as an individual- my whole being- God-centered as I went about my daily routine today?

Here is a challenge- sometime this week ask another believer about their communion with God.  It may take some explaining but by God’s grace it will pay off.  May God grant sweet fellowship as we together pursue Christ.

The following was posted over at the Married Life Blog (a blog conducted through Covenant Life Church in Maryland). It was timely for me and highlighted particularly the need for me to be continually appreciating, encouraging, and ministering to my wife. It was rather short so I have copied it in its entirety here.

Husbands do you see your wife’s responsibility of caring for the kids as a “breeze,” or a “walk in the park?” Do you relate to your wife as if there is “nothing to it,” or “piece of cake?” You might not use those words. But if you are like me, and as Kenneth mentioned in his parenting message last week “we can tend to think parenting should be easy.”

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At his blog Gospeldrivenlife, Mark Lauterbach is writing a series of posts reviewing and applying Jonathan Edwards’ treatise “The Nature of True Virtue.”  It is a helpful and thoughtful summary of some heavy stuff.  Here are a couple of highlights from the first post.

     “In other words, if I love my wife and children, and even my church, but do not demonstrate love to my neighbor or community or co-workers — in all likelihood, my love is a sham and not true virtue.  It is selfishness in some form.  Sin turns us in on ourselves, and that self absorption can look like virtue.”

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     “What it means is that a privatized version of Christianity is actually not a weak version of the Gospel, but a denial of the Gospel.  And I think the life of Christ bears this out — for he went about doing good (indiscriminately) and healing all who were oppressed by the devil.  The nature of God’s goodness is to seek the good of all.  This is not a sentimental love for God is just — but it is true desire to bless.  Elsewhere Edwards says that true love is the expansion of the heart so that we take great delight in the well being of others as much as in our own.

    So, as I drive home tonight and stop by the store — is it a godly thing to ignore the name and person of the one who takes my money for my purchase?  Or to drive into my neighborhood with no prayer for the good of those who live nearby?”

Read the rest of this first post and follow the subsequent posts in this series at Gospeldrivenlife.

Russell Moore has a great summary of Michael Card’s relationship with the late William Lane:

Card speaks about how Lane never said, “Here is how I am mentoring you.” Instead he just spent time with Card, talked about life with him, and modeled for him in small ways what he considered to be the marks of a Christian. What Card brings forth as one of the greatest lessons he ever learned from Lane is not a curriculum or a step in a program. Instead it is the memory of the time when travelling overseas with Lane, when Lane insisted that Card sleep in the only bed available while Lane slept on the floor. Card says that all he could think about that night is the awkwardness of the fact that he, a college student, was comfortable in bed, while a brilliant Hebrews scholar was on the floor around the corner. It hit him that what Lane was doing was teaching his protege the Bible. From this, and other moments like it, came Card’s song about Christic servanthood, “The Basin and the Towel.”

There’s much talk about mentoring today among Christians. Often I find that some expect mentoring to be a clearly defined program, with a man announcing to a younger man: “You are my protege. Today I have mentored you.” But, as Card points out, that’s not the way real Christian discipleship works, and never has. The greatest part of mentoring doesn’t seem like mentoring at all, just like friendship. Peter, James, and John probably didn’t say to themselves while walking to Gethsemene, “Here we go, boys. This is going to be the Gospel of Mark, chapter fourteen.” They thought it was just a walk.

What a beautiful picture of discipleship. No formal rules, just faith being modeled through the challenges and joys of life. Michael Card talks more about his relationship with Lane in his book The Walk.

I have read a couple of things lately that have been very convicting concerning our focus as we live in this world.  We must be very deliberate in our pursuit of the lost.  The source of these quotes are here and here.
1.  “Gospel eyes” is the expression my husband has coined to encapsulate the way we need to see people for the sake of the gospel mission. I find that so helpful. As I read the gospels, I am amazed at how Jesus saw people who would have been invisible to me. The widow of Nain would have been lost to me in the crowd of noisy mourners. My eye probably would have been drawn to the corpse of her son or distracted by the wailing women. The hemorrhaging woman would have completely escaped my attention in the rush to help the synagogue official’s son. Even Pilate, during his interrogation at the trial, would have been invisible to me in my fear of what he was about to do. Jesus, perfectly in tune with the Father, saw each of these in their created dignity and tragic fallenness.  Because he saw them, he didn’t miss the opportunity to seek them.

2.  “Sometimes I think the most unreached people group is the one next door,” Eric said. “Do you think of yourself as a missionary to the world next door? Do you just go to Starbucks or do you see yourself as being sent to Starbucks? Do you go to school or do you see yourself as being sent to your campus? Do you go to work or do you see yourself as being sent to your job?”

Eric said that Colossians 4:2-6 gives us three things to do as local missionaries: We pray, we live, and we talk. This passage reads:

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison– that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. Conduct yourselves wisely toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

If you are anything like me the aspect of confession is often lacking in your prayer life.  Sometimes maybe we don’t feel like we know where to start or what to confess.  Here is a simple prayer of confession written by Philip Ryken for his church which he posted over at the Reformation 21 blog.  Hope its helpful.  (more…)