Glory of Christ Fellowship

Over the last few weeks I have been writing about a document I keep on the desktop of my computer entitled, “My Motivation.” It is designed to remind and inspire and focus me toward Christ-centered living, but it’s comprised of pictures rather than words. Nine of the fifteen pictures are of various men of God who inspire me for a number of reasons, the third of whom is the puritan Pastor and author, John Bunyan. When I was in college, I read Bunyan’s most famous work, Pilgrim’s Progress,  which certainly had an impact on my life. But in 2003 I read his second most famous work,  Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners,  through which God led me on a months-long journey of exploring the contours of grace in my life. In the preface of the book, Bunyan writes this: “It is profitable for Christians to be often calling to mind the very beginnings of grace within their souls…My dear children, call to mind the former days, ‘and the years of ancient times: remember also you...

Last week I wrote about a document I keep on the desktop of my computer entitled, “My Motivation.” It is designed to remind and inspire and focus me toward Christ-centered living, but it’s comprised of pictures rather than words. Nine of the fifteen pictures are of various men of God who inspire me for a number of reasons, the first of whom is Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones. Dr. Jones is most well known for his long-tenure as the Pastor of Westminster Chapel in London where he faithfully taught the Bible for some thirty years. And indeed, the primary reason he appears in my personal “Hall of Faith” is because of his long and uncompromised commitment to preaching the Word of God, on its own terms, in the prominent worship services of the church. He received much criticism for this stalwart devotion and much pressure to teach the Bible in a more culturally relevant manner, but he never bowed to such pressure. Rather, as a true lover of God and servant of the church, he clung to the Word of...

On the desktop of my computer I keep a document entitled, “My Motivation.” It is designed to remind and inspire and focus me toward Christ-centered living, but it’s comprised of pictures rather than words. Words are important and my life is filled with them, but pictures are important, too, especially when they capture something of the spirit words are meant to arouse. Five of the fifteen pictures have to do with cycling which is important to me because it is the primary means by which I pursue physical health, and I pursue physical health because I want to live long and bring as much glory to the name of Jesus Christ as I can. There is no higher calling or privilege than dying for the sake of the Name, and by God’s grace I would embrace that destiny if Christ called me to do so, but oh how I long to preach Christ with passion when I’m 75 or 90 or 100. There’s something beautiful and powerful about old preachers who’ve been long refined by the Spirit of God and time, and I want to be ...

Hudson Taylor had endured his share of suffering. From the day he discerned the calling to share the good news of Jesus Christ with the Chinese people, he began to live an austere life, he traveled by boat from England to China which took months and came with a variety of challenges, he decided to reach into the interior of China while others warned him against that and, in subtle ways, even opposed him, he fell ill and had to return to England even though the ministry was growing and producing much fruit, he continued to struggle with his health in England, he struggled to persuade wealthy and content people that they must sacrifice to seek and save the one million or more Chinese souls that were dying every month in those days, and perhaps worst of all he struggled to muster the faith that God would provide and send and sustain an army of workers to reach the people he now loved with all of his heart.  But God never wastes a trial or difficulty, in fact, He was using all of ...