"And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes and be careful to obey My rules" (Ezekiel 36:27).

It was the Puritan John Owen that wrote: "To suppose that whatever God requireth of us that we have power of ourselves to do, is to make the cross and grace of Jesus Christ of none effect."

J. Budziszewski wrote a great article recently posted on Boundless Webzine. In it, he chronicled how a young college student relayed to him his utter paralysis when it came to the issue of marriage. This young man had no plans to marry, and doubted whether any couple can really stay married anymore until death parts them.

I am scheduled to preach this Sunday morning - yippee! Opportunities have been scarce of late, so my heart is thrilled to once again have the sacred honor of feeding God's flock from His Word. Of course, for someone such as myself whose preference is always expository preaching, verse-by-verse, passage-by-passage through books of the Bible, having to just "figure out" what text to preach is somewhat intimidating! How do you topical preachers do it? :-0 How did Spurgeon do it? I'm just not that creative!

"No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money" (Matthew 6:24).

Funny thing, this morning I received a mailing from Focus on the Family. Enclosed was a small flyer entitled "State of the Family 2010." Four key issues infecting our families were listed:

I hate sin. In my life. In others' lives. In our culture. In our world. This is who God graciously makes us in Christ - haters of sin and lovers of God. So, it has been with great sadness that I have followed the now over-exposed exploits of Tiger Woods. While the media circles like sharks around a bloody piece of bait, his adoring fans remain shocked and deeply disappointed. He was, and is, the world's greatest golfer, an icon to millions of kids. His downfall is not something to rejoice over or even to gawk at like the news agencies so want you to do.

"Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while" (Mark 6:31).

Due to the ridiculous statements being made in the aftermath of the Super Bowl, I am compelled to leave our present discussion on the American idols of busyness and lifestyle to say a few things about "The Savior of New Orleans."

For the next few posts, I want to begin challenging readers to think very seriously about the obstacles that might stand in the way of growing more cross-centered in their homes (marriage, parenting, sibling relations, etc.). After all, it should come as no surprise that if a follower of Christ makes a commitment, by God's grace, to pursue holiness and Christ-likeness in one or more areas of life, battles will ensue.