One of the most vivid instances of Old Testament—New Testament continuity occurs when Paul reaches back to the cleanliness and ritual purity laws from the Pentateuch, holds them up in his hand, and says in essence to the Corinthians, “Church, be distinct like this!” He writes:   Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.” Since we have these promise...

HOW CHURCH SQUABBLES HINDER GOSPEL WORK Erik Raymond has written another great blog post  HERE  . Here is an excerpt. ------------- When we let peripheral issues rise to the place of prominence then we have displaced the gospel. Instead of embracing the humility to be of the same mind ( Phil. 2:2-4 ) they desire to put themselves first. Instead of applying the gospel to every situation they selectively apply it how they want to. We have to see that when it comes to mission these secondary squabbles are a real problem. It is like a nail in the tire of mission; it deflates the gospel and slows down its progress. However, most people who are being selfish don’t see it this way. They see their issue as  the  issue. They have a real hard time seeing the prominence of the gospel. They refuse to apply it but would rather just simmer and boil. They forget that the gospel is not just the  way in  but the  way on . It is not just what gi...

Chuck Lawless has written another helpful post for churches to consider.  Here are some observations he makes below about why "Programs" don't work.

Titus 3 v 9  But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless.

"Preachers, it's not about how cool you are, but how clear you are." — @johnmacarthur

 ‏ @ MattSmethurst     40 minutes ago The man most concerned about his public appearance before men is never much concerned about his private attitude before God. — Lloyd-Jones

1 Peter 2:11-12  (NIV) 11  Dear friends,  I urge you, as foreigners and exiles,  to abstain from sinful desires,  which wage war against your soul.   12  Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds  and glorify God  on the day he visits us. Peter wants Christian pilgrims to remember their heavenly citizenship. Calling his hearers ‘transients’ or ‘pilgrims’, Peter returns to a description he used at the beginning of his letter (1:1). He has now shown why they must regard themselves as pilgrims: they are the people of God, a holy nation, and they dare not conform to the wicked conduct of their neighbours. Instead, they must bear witness by their deeds to the kingdom of light. ... Because they are God’s children and pilgrims in this world, Christians are also warriors, repulsing the attacks of fleshly lusts that war against the soul. Peter clearly states the oppositi...

1 Peter 2:11-12 New International Version (NIV) 11  Dear friends,  I urge you, as foreigners and exiles,  to abstain from sinful desires,  which wage war against your soul.   12  Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds  and glorify God  on the day he visits us . Do you see how imperative it is that we live godly lives? We want unbelievers to examine us. They come initially to criticize, but if our behavior is excellent, the criticism of some might turn to curiosity. And if that curiosity turns to conversion, they’ll glorify God because of their salvation. Thus we’ve done our part in bringing God glory. You lead people to the credibility of Christianity and ultimately to conversion by the virtue of your life. So stay away from fleshly lusts and maintain excellent behavior. ... When those around us see us helping rather than exploiting, hear us talking with purity inst...

The main problem our heart has is not so much desires for bad things, but our over-desires for good things. When a good thing becomes our “god”, it creates “over-desires” (see Ephesians 2:3; 1 Peter 2:11; 1 John 2:16). Paul says that sinful desires become deep things that drive and control us. Sin creates in us the feeling that we must have this, or that, or the other. David Powlison has a very helpful insight on this:   “If ‘idolatry’ is the characteristic and summary Old Testament word for our drift from God, then ‘desires’ (epithumia) is the characteristic and summary New Testament word for that same drift … The New Testament merges the concept of idolatry and the concept of inordinate, life-ruling desires … for lust, craving, yearning and greedy demand (Ephesians 5:5; Colossians 3:5).” (The Journal of Biblical Counseling, page 36) Keller, T. (2013). Galatians for You (p. 146). Purcellville, VA: The Good Book Company.

Peter says that sinful desires that remain in our hearts “wage war against your soul” (1 Peter 2:11)—the military language correctly translates Peter’s expression and conveys the imagery that sinful desires within us are like soldiers in a battle and their target is our spiritual well-being. To give in to such sinful desires , to nurture and cherish them in our hearts, is to give food, shelter, and welcome to the enemy’s troops. If we yield to the desires that “wage war” against our souls, we will inevitably feel some loss of spiritual strength, some diminution of spiritual power, some loss of effectiveness in the work of God’s kingdom. Grudem, W. A. (2004). Systematic theology: an introduction to biblical doctrine (p. 506). Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; Zondervan Pub. House.

The Bible says: “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light: which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims . . .” (1 Peter 2:9–11). Aliens are rarely shown the “welcome mat.” They are often accepted only with a tongue-in-cheek attitude. Being aliens, with our citizenship not in the world but in heaven, we as Christ’s followers will frequently be treated as “peculiar people” and as strangers. Our life is not of this world. “Our conversation is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20). Our interests, primarily, are not in this world. Jesus said: “Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven . . . for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:20–21). Our hope is not in this world. The Bible...

A message of grace will attract people, but a culture of grace will keep them. — @ JaredCWilson

We must recognize that the fallen sinner hates the true God and fatally loves himself. Of course he wants a god who will give him what he wants! The gospel, however, assaults the sinner’s self-worship, self-assurance, self-esteem, and smugness, shattering his confidence in his religion and his spirituality. It crushes him under the full weight of God’s law with a verdict of guilty. The only way he can be set free is if he comes to loathe himself and all his ambitions, repent of his sins, and love the one true God, whom Holy Scripture reveals to be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. That is the message under which God awakens the sinner and leads him to repentance and faith. Never appeal to that which enslaves the sinner—materialism, sex, pleasure, personal ambition, a better life, success, or whatever—in an effort to convince the sinner of his need to be rescued from the very enslavement you’re appealing to. Instead, call the sinner to flee from all that is natural, all ...

The impotence of human beings with regard to spiritual reality is communicated in a variety of ways by Paul. The natural person—that is, the person without the Spirit —does not welcome the truths of the Spirit and indeed has no capacity for such understanding (1 Cor. 2:14). The unregenerate push the truth of the gospel away from themselves, for they find their pleasure in evil rather than in embracing the truth (2 Thess. 2:10–12).  Unbeknownst to them, Satan is their god, and he has spun a veil over the minds of unbelievers so that they fail to see the beauty of Christ (2 Cor. 4:3–4; cf. 3:14). They have been snared by the devil, and he holds them as prisoners, so they invariably do his will (2 Tim. 2:26) even as they trumpet their own freedom.  The state of unbelievers is spiritual death, and the consequence of that death is sin (Eph. 2:1, 5; cf. Rom. 5:12). Unbelievers live under the thrall of the world, the devil, and the flesh (Eph. 2:1–3). We could say that the cap...

Phil Ryken draws the close parallel between our response to God and how it will reveals itself toward God's people. 

Bruce Waltke makes the following observation about the perceived failure of Moses and Aaron's first attempt before Pharaoh in Exodus 5. 

Jared C. Wilson  ‏ @ jaredcwilson     7h 7 hours ago A gospel-centered church is more grieved and preoccupied with her own sins than the sins of outsiders.

Want to see what it looks like to obey Jesus and go public with your faith? These are some friends of mine back in North Carolina. My heart rejoiced watching the Gospel through this video. Praise God!! Outdoor Baptisms – 2015 from Providence on Vimeo .

On Moses coming near death for not having already circumcised his son in Exodus 4, Bentley writes,  "If we fail to obey, he will deal with us. Sometimes he takes blessing away from us which should have been ours. If we are slow to follow his leading, sometimes he sends someone else to do the work, and we miss the joy of being caught up with a wholehearted obedience to his voice. And sometimes he strikes us down, as he did Moses on this occasion. We must not say, ‘God is a God of love; he would never do something like that.’ Our God is sovereign. He is powerful and he will carry out his purposes in this world—even if he has to pull one of his servants up short." Bentley, M. (1999). Travelling Homeward: Exodus Simply Explained (pp. 79–80). Darlington, England: Evangelical Press.