Padkos - April 2016

Why The Gift of Prophecy is not the Usual Way to Know the Will of God - audio and article - John Piper

Faith and Law-keeping in the Christian Life - Ask Pastor John

Mindfulness, Selfies...

Fearless Women in a World of Opportunities - John Piper

Is Speaking Your Mind a Christian Virtue? 10 Thoughts From Scripture

Painful Pruning - An Unavoidable Season

Look At The Book - John Piper . 1 Peter 2 & 3

When Your Twenties Are Darker Than You Expected

Advice For Better Bible Memory

The Bondage of The Will - John Piper

When Did the Patriarchs Live and Die

Beautiful words, quoted from the article 'Your Hospital Visit Is Coming' by Joni Eareckson Tada posted on the Desiring God blog


"Crying was out. There was no one around to wipe my tears. So I decided to comfort my soul with a hymn. In no more than a whisper, I sang a favorite from church choir:

          Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side. 
          Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain. 
          Leave to thy God to order and provide; 
          In every change he faithful will remain. 
          Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heavenly Friend 
          Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end! 

I was only seventeen years old, or maybe eighteen, but that moment defined how I would engage life in a hospital. My stay would not be a jail sentence. Come hell or high water, I determined that this hospital would be, well, a gymnasium for my soul, a proving ground for my faith, and a mission field for God."

Padkos - March 2016

The Downward Spiral of My Miscontent

5 Prayers to Pray For Your Husband

What Should We Pray For?

Inject Your Prayer List With Life

Did You Expect Your Marriage To Be Easy?

Contagion Of Complaint - Seditious Sin of Grumbling Part 2

Can Griping Be Godly? - Seditious Sin of Grumbling Part 3

Jerry Bridges - a Life of Faith - Audio

Why We Must Earnestly Desire Spiritual Gifts - Jon Bloom

How To Please A Holy God

The Doctrine of Election Saved Me From Depression

10 Marks of an Immature Believer

5 Steps For effective Prayer - Timothy Keller

The Root of Mental Health - John Piper

Scripture Memory - David Mathis

What We Should Pray For - John Piper

Exercising An Idle Mind - Kelly Needham  "Many things knock at the door of our mind, but few are worth letting in."

Why Don't We Follow All The OT Laws?

Hobbies -

Hobbies to the Glory of God - Tim Challis

Hobbies - Gift or God? - " Above my desk, in my office, I have a framed picture that my wonderfully creative wife made for me that has pictures of books, coffee beans, and a few quotes. Knowing that my hobbies are reading, writing, and the quest for the perfect cup of coffee, in the middle of that picture is a quote from Jonathan Edwards. The quote from his “Resolutions,” says, “Resolved, never to lose one moment of time; but improve it the most profitable way I possibly can.” Underneath this quote is Paul’s admonition to the church in Ephesians 5:15-16, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making he best use of the time, because the days are evil""

How Hobbies Glorify God (audio) John Piper

Learning From Fanny Crosby

Excerpt taken from 'Fanny Crosby : Her Story Her Song' on the Revive Our Hearts - True Woman- blog

What Can We Learn from Fanny?

Fanny never saw her blindness as a slight from God. Instead, she openly thanked Him for the ways her visual impairment opened doors for her to serve Him in ways she felt she otherwise couldn't have. She hadn't set out to become a prolific hymn writer; she simply wanted an education so she might be "useful." God took her offering and used it for the edification of His church body.

Fanny's ability to think of herself as a capable servant allowed her to excel in the strengths God had given her, never being held back by self-pity. Fanny followed God's lead, humbly stewarded her God-given talents, and walked through each open door of opportunity with joy in her heart. Her life is a true example of walking by faith and not by sight.

How might we serve the Lord more passionately and effectively if we focused on utilizing our gifts, rather than hiding behind our limitations? Whether our hindrances are physical or emotional barriers, real or self-inflicted ones, we must recognize God's sovereignty in our situations and know that we were "created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand" (Eph. 2:10). Our Father loves us and wants to use us for the work of His kingdom, despite our limitations. Like Fanny, we must learn to trust Him and let our lives of worship and service become a sweet echo of her famous lyrics:

This is my story, this is my song
Praising my Savior all the day long.

Padkos - February 2016

How to Have Intimacy With God  - Jon Bloom " God wants intimacy with you. Christ has done all the hard work in the cross to make it possible. All he requires is that you believe in him (John 14:1). He wants you to trust him with all your heart (Proverbs 3:5).

Which means his invitation to you to enjoy intimacy with him is the providences in your life that are testing your faith more than anything else. What you must trust God most for right now is where he means for you to draw closer to him."

John Calvin's 4 Rules of Prayer

5 Things You Can Give God Each Day

3 Ways Our Culture Differs From Every Other Culture in History

A Plea to The Mission Minded - Jen Wilkin

The Seditious Sin of Grumbling (Part 1) - Clint Archer

Online Resources for Biblical Exegesis

Women Crying Over Diagrammed Sentences (audio links to workshop)

The Razor's Edge - RC Sproul. Ethics and Morality (video)

Love The Life You Never Wanted -  "therefore, fullness of life is ultimately found not in any earthly success or relationship or accomplishment, but in your proximity to God through faith."

20 Qualities of Good Listeners

10 Sure Signs We've Lost Our Minds

Discipleship in Jesus' Style 

Hillary, Bernie, Donald and Me - John Piper and retirement

Why You Can't See Your Biggest Flaws - Timothy Keller