Something to Chew On

"The problem with the church today is not that there are too many people who are passionately in love with heaven. Name three! The problem is not that professing Christians are retreating from the world, spending half their days reading Scripture and the other half singing about their pleasures in God all the while indifferent to the needs of the world. The problem is that professing Christians are spending ten minutes reading Scripture and then half their day making money and the other half enjoying and repairing what they spend it on"

John Piper from message "The Fruit of Hope: Love"

A Series on the Psalms

Our brother Mark Jones wanted to let us all know about a powerful series that pastor & author John Piper recently finished entitled "Psalms: Thinking and Feeling with God." You can access audio, video and more from the series here:

Psalms: Thinking and Feeling with God

John has been the teaching pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis for nearly 30 years and has written more than 30 books. He is known for his passion for God's glory and his commitment to expository teaching (case in point, he preached his way through the book of Romans over a 10-year period!). My first encounter with Dr. Piper was his book Desiring God and I have been benefiting from this teaching ever since.

I would encourage you to check out his series on the Psalms. As "lead worshippers" I think it's important that we engage our minds in studying Scripture - especially the Psalms, as they are the hymnbook of the Bible. Paul puts it this way: "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind" (Romans 12:2a). As we listen to God's Word being preached we invite the Holy Spirit to illuminate our minds and touch our hearts. Because we are all involved in helping lead others in worship a series on the Psalms would be one to check out...

Here's what Mark says...

Long story short, he recently did a series on the book of Psalms and the last sermon in the series (6/29/08) was on Psalm 96 and titled "Declare His Glory Among the Nations". John ties in the role of singing and worship towards the later half of the sermon. The sermons are about 40 minutes long but are worth the time invested.

Thanks again to the man, Mr. MJ for the recommendation. By the way, if you guys have anything you think the whole team should see or would benefit from please drop me a line. I'm always happy to give credit where credit is due!