Need some Weekly Wisdom? Here are my favorite resources of the week.
VERSE OF THE WEEK
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. -Ephesians 6:12
BOOK OF THE WEEK
The Art of Neighboring: Building Genuine Relationships Right Outside Your Door by Jay Pathak and Dave Runyon
When Jesus was asked to sum up everything into one command, he said to love God with everything we have and to love our neighbors as ourselves. Most of us have turned this simple idea of loving our neighbors into a nice saying, putting it on bumper stickers and refrigerator magnets and then going on with our lives without actually putting it into practice.
What would happen if every follower of Jesus took the Great Commandment literally? Is it possible that the solution to our society’s biggest issues has been right under our noses for the past two thousand years?
- We all need to get back to the basics of what he commanded: love God and love others. Everything else is secondary (25).
- The problem is, however, that when we aim for everything, we hit nothing (35).
- Making the main thing the main thing means taking time to reflect on what is most important in your life and then scheduling around those things (54).
PODCAST OF THE WEEK
Main Session – Ligon Duncan – The Whole in Our Holiness (T4G18)
We were created to live in complete obedience to our loving Creator, but in the fall, the whole of our being has been corrupted by idolatrous sin. Ligon Duncan traces the biblical storyline to show how Christ redeems his fallen people, renewing them to a whole-hearted obedience to the God of grace. Increasingly conformed to the image of Christ, Christians are to be distinct from the world in their love of God and neighbor.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slum out of people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature.
-Ezra Taft Benson, Former Secretary of Agriculture
SONG OF THE WEEK
“Amazing Grace” bass solo by the incredible Victor Wooten. This is an old video, but you will be blown away by what he can do on a bass guitar.
POST OF THE WEEK
Why Some Pastors Aren’t Read to Lead in Church Revitalization by Chuck Lawless
“I believe in church planting, and I also believe in church revitalization. We need to do both if we want to reach North America. I’m particularly interested in revitalization because of the people and property resources available for kingdom work, but I’m not convinced every pastor is ready to lead through a revitalization effort.”
TIP OF THE WEEK
Evaluate Your Systems. Feeling overwhelmed with the tasks? Can’t seem to finish that project? Struggling to stay committed to that goal? It might not be your inability or unwillingness, it might be because you have poor systems. Creating workable systems that help you do what you are called to do will allow you to do more of it, but if you don’t take the time to evaluate, you will never improve.
Travis Agnew serves as the Lead Pastor of Rocky Creek Church in Greenville, SC. His most recent book is Just (About) Married.
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