Book Giveaway Winners

Congratulations to Andrew Arden and Jonathan Davis.  Since I've not heard from Jonathan, I've passed on to Matthew Kratz  

They will receive 1 free copy in the mail of Heart of the Matter directly from New Growth Press.  Hope that this book will be a blessing to you over the coming year.  God Bless.

Book Giveaway: Heart of the Matter

Comment below and tell us "why you'd be blessed" by receiving 1 of 2 copies of Heart of the Matter.  And you will be entered into a Random Drawing administered by random.org.  Comments close at 12:00 midnight.  Winners will be notified on Monday, Nov. 12, 2012.  

I blame my first experience with Christian Counselling and Education Foundation (CCEF) on my Senior Pastor who introduced me to the group in the fall of 2009.  I attended my first national conference in King of Prussia, PA with him and his wife.  At the time, I was a bit skeptical because the conference was being advertised as Sex Matters.  Thankfully, at the conference I was exposed not to racy content but to the glorious good news of Jesus Christ as the necessary agent that redeems and transforms the lives of people who have been the victims of a culture stuck in the red light district.  

The national conference was a starting point of what might be a lifelong relationship of trust.  I appreciate the solid, biblical content of the writers and speakers who are involved with CCEF.  

"With this book you have the opportunity to Start a Year of Thoughtful Change.  Change that goes deeper than the surface of our lives happens over the long haul as we dailyremember and connect the truths of the gospel to our lives. Every day we need to be re-minded—in different ways—that Jesus, God’s own Son, came to this world to save us from sin,sorrow, and death. The promises of God, which are all “yes” in Jesus, change the way we viewourselves, our circumstances, and other people." 

Heart of the Matter gives a daily reminder of theselife-changing truths. Topics covered in the devotional include: love, hope, grace, redemption, faith, contentment, conflict, relationships, prayer, fear, patience, humility, and anger.  I highly recommend this book for all who desire to learn wisdom, to learn how to talk to one's heart with Scripture, and to respond properly to the trials of life.  The 366 selections, anchored in Scripture and saturated with the gospel,will help you to:

• Learn how God in his Word addresses a host of life situations
  
• Focus on how the gospel intersects with life
  
• Look beyond circumstances to God’s purposes
  
• See how God values relationship with his children
  
• Learn to value others by speaking truth in love, by not shying away from conflict, by for-giving, and by being patient and persistent
  
• Grow in wisdom when confronted by life’s changes
  
• Learn how God works change that is effective and visible

Contributing authors include David Powilson, Paul David Tripp, Tim Lane, and others.

A Psalm about Relationships

A sample of the powerful daily devotional thoughts available in this book...A full Review of the book will be available on Friday, November 9, 2012.  Free Book Giveaway on Friday

Psalm 146

Why doesn’t God just make your relationships better overnight? We often think that if God really cared for us, he would make our relationships easier. In reality, a difficult relationship is a mark of his love and care.

We would prefer that God would just change the relationship, but he won’t be content until the relationship changes us too. This is how God created relationships to function.

What happens in the messiness of relationships is that our hearts are revealed, our weaknesses are exposed, and we start coming to the end of ourselves. Only when this happens do we reach out for the help God alone can provide. Weak and needy people finding their hope in Christ’s grace are what mark a mature relationship.

The most dangerous aspect of your relationships is not your weakness, but your delusions of strength. Self-reliance is almost always a component of a bad relationship.

While we would like to avoid the mess and enjoy deep and intimate community, God says that it is in the very process of working through the mess that intimacy is found.

On January 16 Timothy S. Lane and Paul David Tripp writes in Heart of the Matter (p 16).  

A Psalm for Stress

A sample of the powerful daily devotional thoughts available in this book...A full Review of the book will be available on Friday, November 9, 2012.  Free Book Giveaway on Friday

 

Psalm 28

If the Lord is near, if he is someone who knows what’s on your heart, who knows what weighs heavily on you and preoccupies you, then he is a hearer of his beloved children.

Many psalms start out by pleading with God—Lord, listen to me, bend your ear, you must hear me, I need you to listen and act on my behalf . These are not calm psalms; they are intense and pointed. In Psalm 28, David tells God that if God doesn’t hear him, he will die. This is faith talking, and David talks this way because God is listening. God’s listening does not guarantee that what is making you anxious will go away— that your financial problems will be solved, that you will be cured of cancer, or that whatever else is worrying you will disappear. You may not be healed, people you love may die, and you may struggle with financial stress. But God comforts, strengthens, and gives hope in the midst of the most difficult circumstances. Jesus did not want to drink the cup of God’s wrath. But God strengthened him, and he was fully willing. There’s help from him for whatever worries you. So when you are anxious pour your heart out to God. He is listening.

On June 14 David Powlison writes in Heart of the Matter (p 166).

Resting Contently

A sample of the powerful daily devotional thoughts available in this book...A full Review of the book will be available on Friday, November 9, 2012.  Free Book Giveaway on Friday

Philippians 4:4–13

God wants you to be content. True contentment is usually learned on the down cycle—in loss, deprivation, and financial need. As your own dreams of financial security are shaken by your circumstances, you have the opportunity to turn from trusting and hoping in material things to trusting and hoping in God. This might not seem so great right now, but think about it: if your contentment is based on what you have or own, it can be easily lost. But contentment based on your relationship with God is on the unshakeable ground of God’s unfailing love.

In Philippians 4:11–13 Paul is saying that true contentment (or lack of it) doesn’t come from our circumstances; true contentment comes from “him who gives me strength.” Because he trusted Jesus, he was at peace in all kinds of material circumstances. He knew that even in times of financial stress he was not missing out on anything essential to life. His identity, hope, and wellbeing did not come from what he owned or what goal he achieved. Rather, it rested on his relationship with his heavenly Father, who loved him and gave his Son for him.

On May 26 Timothy S. Lane and Paul David Tripp writes in Heart of the Matter (p 147).  

Dealing with Anxiety

A sample of the powerful daily devotional thoughts available in this book...A full Review of the book will be available on Friday, November 9, 2012.   Free Book Giveaway on Friday 

Jeremiah 31:31–34

Is the evidence of having forgiven someone forgetting what he has done to you? Jeremiah 31:34 is often quoted, where God says, “I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

There are at least two problems with this understanding of forgiveness. First, it is not realistic. Trying to forget a sin someone has committed against you will only encourage you to remember it. Completely erasing an offense from your memory is not realistic. Second, it is not biblical. Our omniscient God does not forget anything! The word “remember” in Jeremiah 31:34 is not a memory word, but a promise word, a covenant word. God is promising that when we confess our sins, “I will not treat you as your sins deserve. Instead, I will forgive you.” Forgiveness is a past promise you keep in the future. It is very important to understand these two dimensions of forgiveness. If you don’t, you will veer off in one of two equally wrong directions: (1) You will be plagued with doubts about whether you have forgiven someone because you think that forgiving equals forgetting.

Or (2) you will give in to bitterness because you think that, since you have forgiven someone in the past, you are allowed to hold onto the vestiges of hurt in the present. Neither reflects the way God has forgiven us.

On June 23 David Powlison writes in Heart of the Matter (p 175).