Weekly Wisdom [03.02.18]

Need some Weekly Wisdom?  Here are my favorite resources of the week.

Verse of the Week

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me [Gal. 2:20].

Book of the Week

Marcs of a Disciple by Robby Gallaty

Sadly, the American church has adopted business metrics to grow churches rather than biblical methods for growing disciples. In MARCS of a Disciple, Pastor Robby Gallaty provides a biblical guide for gauging spiritual growth. Mature disciples are Missional, Accountable, Reproducible, Communal, and Scriptural. Use this book as a measuring stick to determine the health and effectiveness of disciple-making in your church and personal life. Jesus didn’t leave the maturity of his disciples to chance; neither should we.

Favorite Quotes:

  1. If we begin to focus on the depth of our disciples, God will take care of the breadth of our ministry (xvii).
  2. We are missional by living intentional where God has planted us (3).
  3. What is on your mind comes out of your mouth (89).

Podcast of the Week

12 Traits of a Biblical Church: Preaching and Teaching

Great podcast from David Platt on the important role of biblical preaching in a local church.

Quote of the Week

No matter how organized you are, how together your system is, how careful you are about processing your inbox, making a task list, and working your calendar, if you don’t stop every now and again to look at the “big picture,” you’re going to get overwhelmed.  You end up simply responding to what’s thrown at you, instead of proactively creating the conditions of your life. -Dustin Wax

Post of the Week

5 things every pastor can learn from Billy Graham

Due to Graham’s itinerant ministry and his home in North Carolina, he obviously never attended either regularly. Nevertheless, Graham’s character and his personal principles are those that can be emulated by any pastor in Gospel ministry.

Song of the Week


Love this version of “Holy, Holy, Holy” by Audrey Assad.

Tip of the Week

Break down a project into numerous and systematic tasks.

If you feel overwhelmed with a large project in your life, you need to get fully overwhelmed.  Sometimes I feel like I can’t breathe until I realize fully what I am up against.

Begin to write out the details.  You can be as painstakingly as you want to be.  Depending upon how you are wired will cause you to want to do this one way or the other (whiteboard, sheet of prayer, computer document, mind map, etc.).  I like to get everything out there, and be overwhelmed with it for a moment.  I have found that there is something burdensome of keeping up with details in my mind, so I would rather have all of them out there and then I can start addressing them one at a time.  It is a relief to me to have a large bullet-point list and the project no longer be abstract.