Dr. Paul Tautges has written a book for every believer. Preorder it for great savings. Order now Here is an excerpt from the book: Believers in Jesus Christ must be taught and trained to be richly indwelt with the Word of God, to live under the influence of the Holy Spirit, to be driven by the gospel, to express dependence on God through prayer, to be motivated by love for God and neighbor, and to be moved with compassion to help one another make progress in the ongoing work of sanctification. This is authentic biblical counseling. Therefore, in this book, counseling will be presented as a targeted form of discipleship , an intensely focused and personal “one-another” ministry aimed at […]
Sanctification
159 posts
Want to create some havoc in your home? Try cutting off the flow of social media to your kids. That’s right. Put all iPhones, Android phones, tablets and computers in a safe and lock them away. Then for good measure, disconnect any cable, DSL, satellite or any other internet connections to your home. Next, see what happens. There are many who think this would be the perfect solution to solve the relational issues your children struggle with. But does this really solve anything? Outside influence has always been in issue with raising children and, to be honest, for adults as well. Lot chose to live in an attractive city that had plenty of water for crops. It was well populated […]
Something sounds a little off about the title of this post, doesn’t it? Yet, this idea resonates with our modern culture. Somebody is going to do something negative to you, so make sure you do it to them first. In other words don’t let someone else get the upper hand. Thankfully, God’s ways are not our ways! Here is what the Bible commands instead: “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 7:12 Jesus makes this stunning declaration at the end of his Sermon on the Mount. These words challenge you and me to the limits of what it means to have faith in God. […]
by Paul Tripp One of the interpretive problems that gets us into trouble in midlife is that our typical cultural categories for organizing human life are woefully inadequate. We tend to organize the full range of human development into only four categories: child (0-12), youth (13-20), adult (21-65), elderly (65+). When you examine these categories it doesn’t take long to uncover their inadequacy. The categories of child, youth, and elderly are relatively brief spans of time, while the category of adult encompasses forty-five years! Consider for a moment the massive differences between a man twenty-one and a man who is sixty-four. Or, let’s narrow the scope. Consider the remarkable difference in maturity between a person who is twenty-two and […]
Shepherd Press is pleased to announce that the Study Guide for Christ Formed in You is now available. Christ Formed in You is a well respected guide to understanding theology. It has been described as precise and practical. Now that the Study Guide is available this book becomes even more valuable! The study guide will help you answer two important questions: Are you becoming more like Jesus? Are the contours of your character being shaped by his image, formed in his likeness? Here are the recommendations from two leading theologians about Christ Formed in You: Brian Hedges brings a beautiful clarity to our understanding of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and pulls together a comprehensive patchwork of the Gospel’s implications […]
Love is a personal thing or so we are told. Problems come when love is too personal. When love is all about me, bad things happen. Love must be defined by God, specifically by the work of his son, Jesus. The Holy Spirit tells us that we know what love is by how Jesus loved (1 John 3:16). By looking at Christ we see that love is other-centered, not me-centered. This takes some radical rethinking. Love is not about what makes you feel good or happy. Love is dying to your wants, your desires. Only by loving Jesus first can anyone experience this sort of love. The Holy Spirit provides specific examples of what other-centered, true love looks like in […]
The unspoken question most asked about love is, “What’s in it for me?” We are born with this compelling motive regarding love. We are born self-centered and self-consumed. So, if we love something or someone there must be a benefit to be gained. Young children love what makes them happy. Unfortunately, this is a pattern that we never outgrow apart from the saving work of Christ. We were made to love, just as we were made to worship. But, because of sin, we love ourselves and we worship what is pleasing to our corrupt nature. Without being changed by God, both love and worship become distorted and lead to destruction rather than salvation. In God’s mercy he sent Jesus Christ […]
Obedience is not something I use to gain a reward – obedience itself is my reward. Just as I cannot make myself more acceptable to God by my obedience, neither do I want my children to think that I will be more accepting of them because of their obedience. When children disobey, the solution should not be to do better next time. The solution is to to trust Christ for the strength to do what cannot be done in one’s own strength. Training your children to be obedient is not about getting them to do what you want them to do. It is about teaching them to honor God from their hearts. Biblical obedience acknowledges the weakness of the flesh […]
Much of our behavior is centered around self-protection. When someone sins against us we often act like God was looking the other way or perhaps he was on coffee-break and missed the wrong done to us. For example: A young child has his toy taken by an older sibling. He cries out to his parents. A teenager lies to her mother. The mother informs her daughter that she can’t be trusted. A friend says something really stupid. You react with shock and awe. A co-worker takes credit for something you did. You look for a way to get even. Your spouse is insensitive and hurtful. You withdraw and become discouraged. You have a car accident the same day you learn […]
Suppose you stood face-to-face before God and in his hand he held a record of every sin you that you committed? Not a pleasant thought! If this did happen, you would be immediately condemned by the holiness of God. All of your sinful thoughts, actions, and intentions would scream your guilt across the universe. This is something so awful that no one would survive the encounter. We cannot truly contemplate what it means to worship God unless we can first grasp what it means to be guilty before him. The Psalmist had exactly these feelings as he approached Jerusalem for worship. Here are his thoughts from one of the Psalms of Ascent. If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O […]