The descent from purity to lust is taken from the account of King David from 2 Samuell 11. There are five distinct phases. Again, in our day, social media factors in significantly here. A social media profile gives us an opportunity to present ourselves however we want. And painfully few of us, when given the choice, show the world who we really are. We choose to highlight what we think makes us look good. We selectively post and comment based on what reflects well on us. In that way, social media easily becomes an education in self-boasting. We learn, through trial and error (and lots and lots of scrolling), what will win affirmation ( like) and admiration ( follow). The best contemporary book of spiritual guidance I’ve read in a long time. Usually for this type of food I have to look for a book that is at least seventy-five years old. This book is a surprising exception. And it has the added advantage of being very relevant to specific needs in today’s world.”

Do all things without grumbling or disputing,” Paul says elsewhere, “that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:14–15). This light shines in what we say (or don’t). Ask God to make you radiantly thankful. 6. Correct with gentleness. This leads us to an inescapable conclusion: The contemporary evangelical Church, broadly considered, is Corinthian to the core. It is being stewed in the molten juices of its own sensuality so that it is: After the introduction the book that talks about the importance of discipline of godliness author R. Kent Hughes goes over seventeen disciplines that a godly man should cultivate as a Christian man. These disciplines are grouped under four heading with the first being relationships, second being the soul, third being character and fourth being ministry. Some of the disciplines include purity, marriage, and the discipline of the mind, discipline of devotion, integrity, work and discipline of giving and discipline of ministry. The final chapter is about the relationship of God’s grace to discipline which I kind of wished was the first chapter of the book instead of the end. Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:31; 2 Corinthians 10:17). Humble, faithful, joy-filled speech boasts less and less in self and more and more in God. Lord, Guard Our MouthsSensuality is easily the biggest obstacle to godliness among men today and is wreaking havoc in the Church. Godliness and sensuality are mutually exclusive, and those in the grasp of sensuality can never rise to godliness while in its sweaty grip. If we are to discipline [ourselves] for the purpose of godliness (1 Timothy 4:7, NASB), we must begin with the discipline of purity. There has to be some holy heat, some holy sweat! LESSONS FROM A FALLEN KING

Another dominant thread in the apostle’s letters seems to be all the more relevant today: Those captured by grace leave behind all boasting in self. Samuell 5 records David's initial assumption of power and documents that David took on additional wives and concubines from Jerusalem. Deuteronomy 17 set the standards for Hebrew kings and commands abstention from three things: acquiring many horses, taking many wives (v17), and accumulating much silver or gold. " David's embrace of socially-permitted sensuality desensitized himself to God's call and made him easy prey for the fatal sin of his life" [pg. 34]. Discipline is a subject about which the Scriptures say much-but contemporary authors have been peculiarly silent. Kent Hughes fills a gaping void with this superb volume.... If there is a spark of spiritual desire in your soul, this book will surely kindle it into a blazing passion for godly discipline."

Especially For You

A face lit by a luminous screen is a study in passivity. Fleeting images, intermingled with the thousand commercials and banner ads of an average week’s viewing, instill passiveness. . . . The viewer becomes a passive, munching, sipping drone. . . . There are guys, voyeurs, who have substituted viewing for doing and imagine that they have scored a touchdown or taken a hill by virtue of having watched it—passive living legends in their own inert minds. Published by Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, 1300 Crescent Street, Wheaton, Illinois 60187. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you. (1 Thessalonians 4:3-8) Among my favorite chapters in the book in clue the chapter on fatherhood, work, church and witness. I felt the author’s most passionate chapter was the chapter on witnessing and I was quite encouraged by the author’s own example of making the most out of evangelistic opportunities. While I enjoyed the chapter on fatherhood is because today we have a crisis in society of fathers not being the fathers God has called them to be. Thee chapter on prayer was also personally convicting and edifying as that’s something I can work on more to improve.