J. C. Ryle writes:

1. If we love a person, we like to think about him. We do not need to be reminded of him. We do not forget his name or his appearance or his character or his opinions or his tastes or his position or his occupation… Well, it is just so between the true Christian and Christ!
2. If we love a person, we like to hear about him. We find a pleasure in listening to those who speak of him. We feel an interest in any report which others make of him… Well, it is just so between the true Christian and Christ!
3. If we love a person, we like to read about him. What intense pleasure a letter from an absent husband gives to a wife, or a letter from an absent son to his mother… Well, it is just so between the true Christian and Christ!
4. If we love a person, we like to please him. We are glad to consult his tastes and opinions, to act upon his advice and do the things which he approves… Well, it is just so between the true Christian and Christ!
5. If we love a person, we like his friends. We are favorably inclined to them, even before we know them. We are drawn to them by the common tie of common love to one and the same person… Well, it is just so between the true Christian and Christ!
6. If we love a person, we are jealous about his name and honor. We do not like to hear him spoken against, without speaking up for him and defending him… Well, it is just so between the true Christian and Christ!
7. If we love a person, we like to talk to him. We tell him all our thoughts, and pour out all our heart to him. We find no difficulty in discovering subjects of conversation… Well, it is just so between the true Christian and Christ!
8. Finally, if we love a person, we like to be always with him. Thinking and hearing and reading and occasionally talking are all well in their way. But when we really love people we want something more… Well, it is just so between the true Christian and Christ!

(via DG blog)

Pastor John Piper outlines eight arguments Jesus makes against anxiety in Matthew 6:25-34:

1. Life is more than food and the body more than clothing. (v25)
2. God feeds the birds and you are more valuable than they. (v26)
3. It’s pointless. It adds not one hour to your life. (v27)
4. If God clothes ephemeral grass, he will clothe eterenal you. (v28-30)
5. Unbelievers are anxious about stuff. And you are not an unbeliever. (v32a)
6. Your Father knows that you need all these things you’re anxious about. (v32b)
7. When you seek first God’s kingdom and righteousness, what you need is added to you. (v33)
8. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Tomorrow’s trouble stays there. (v34)

(via an eight part series on Piper’s Twitter stream)

Give a man wealth; let his ships bring home continually rich freights; let the winds and waves appear to be his servants to bear his vessels across the bosom of the mighty deep; let his lands yield abundantly; let the weather be propitious to his crops; let uninterrupted success attend him; let him stand among men as a successful merchant; let him enjoy continued health; allow him with braced nerve and brilliant eye to march through the world and live happily; give him the buoyant spirit; let him have the song perpetually on his lips; let his eye be ever sparkling with joy — and the natural consequence of such an easy state to any man, let him be the best Christian who ever breathed, will be presumption; even David said, “I shall never be moved;” and we are not better than David, nor half so good.

(bolding mine)

From C. H. Spurgeon, Morning by Morning, March 10, on Psalm 30:6. Read the full devotional.

I’m listing each point here, but it would be more beneficial to read the whole article (as it has expanded dialog on each point).

1. Introverts don’t like to talk.
2. Introverts are shy.
3. Introverts are rude.
4. Introverts don’t like people.
5. Introverts don’t like to go out in public.
6. Introverts always want to be alone.
7. Introverts are weird.
8. Introverts are aloof nerds.
9. Introverts don’t know how to relax and have fun.
10. Introverts can fix themselves and become Extroverts.

Some interesting thoughts, and ones that I can relate to personally.

(via Bjorn Hanson)

Here’s a great two part series by Kevin DeYoung on some practical principles for church music.

Part 1
Part 2

He expands on ten different points:

1. Love is indispensable to church singing that pleases God.
2. Our singing is for God’s glory and the edification of the body of Christ.
3. We ought to sing to the Lord new songs.
4. Church singing should swim in its own history of church singing.
5. Sing the Psalms.
6. We should strive for excellence in the musicality and the poetry of the songs we sing.
7. The main sound to be heard in the worship music is the sound of the congregation singing.
8. The congregation should also be stretched from time to time to learn new songs and broaden its musical horizons.
9. The texts of our songs should be matched with fitting musicality and instrumentation.
10. All of our songs should employ manifestly biblical lyrics.

I got a lot out of his articles, especially on points 3 and 4 where he thoughtfully notes the importance of old and new songs. It’s a worthwhile read.

(via JT)