Jason Sneed Points To Ponder

Points To Ponder – February 21, 2017

Points To Ponder

God Is Working in Your Waiting

by: Desiring God

Most parents would agree that their children don’t want to wait for anything. The last thing kids want to hear is Mom say, “Not now.” It can prompt anger, frustration, even hopelessness. This “dis-ease” of waiting follows most of us into our adult years. We may not respond with the same emotional outbursts as children, but most of us still hate waiting for what we want.

And our modern society just makes it worse. We want everything done quickly — and new devices constantly spring up to meet those demands and encourage our impatience. We are not used to waiting, and the more our technology caters to our immediate desires, the less we feel willing to wait.

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Five Ways To Start A Conversation With A Women Considering An Abortion

by: Radical

We know that abortion is wrong. We know we must defend the unborn. But when we’re face-to-face with a woman who is considering an abortion, we don’t always know what to say. Here are five ways to start a conversation with her:

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The Importance of Worshipping When You Don’t Feel Like It

by: Lauren Bruce (Brentwood-Benson)

“I hate this song, so I’m just not going to sing.”

“I can’t lead others in worship when I’m not worshipping.”

I have said both of these things on more than one occasion. And you know what? God still lets me worship Him. I’m still allowed in the throne room. Believe me, if there was a tolerance for how many times you can say or think something stupid, I would’ve been thrown out years ago.

I tend to let my emotions get the best of me, especially in the heat of the moment. If something happens to make me angry or upset two minutes before church starts, I might as well sit in the lobby.

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Why Christians Should Fight for the Religious Liberties of False Religions

by: Russell Moore & The Gospel Coalition

Disclaimer: These are articles or blog post that I have found interesting over the past few weeks. This does not mean that I agree with each and every point.

Jason Sneed Points To Ponder

Points To Ponder – 2.11.15

Points To Ponder

There is nothing gray about whether a follower of Christ should see 50 Shades of Grey. This is a black and white issue. Don’t go. Don’t watch it. Don’t read it. Don’t rent it.

I don’t even want to talk about it. Another blogger and I went back and forth for several weeks about how we could write a satirical review panning the movie and skewering those who think they need to see it in order to be relevant. We couldn’t do it. There was no way to make the humor weighty enough to sufficiently condemn such a vile film.

“But God.” These two words are overflowing with gospel. For sinners like you and me who were lost and completely unable to save ourselves from our dead-set rebellion against God, there may not be two more hopeful words that we could utter.

When viewed in light of the persecution that many Christians are facing on a daily basis in various parts of the world, Hebrews 13:3 is a powerful verse. This verse instructs us to remember those who are in prison and mistreated.

I’m not a touchy feely person. I have a friend, CB, who is one of the most godly, “manly” AND affectionate men I know. His “affection” may be partly his personality, but I believe it’s his passionate love for Jesus that makes him so warm hearted and affectionate toward others. When I tell him I’m walking through something tough his eyes well up with tears. If I say something funny he throws his arm around my shoulder and buries his face in my neck, shaking with his laughter. It’s just pure godly affection.

Jason Sneed Foundation Verses

Foundation Verses

With the new year comes resolutions. Resolutions to do all kinds of things: exercise, lose weight, spend more time with family, eat less, save more money (or save money at all), be a better friend, father, mother, sister, brother or parent. While all of these are great and have their place, I started wondering how many of us made a resolution to be more grounded in God’s Word and know more about HIM?

Fighter VersesOver the past few years, I have had an app on my phone entitled Fighter Verses. (This is an app from Desiring God) I love this app because it is a great app for Bible memory. When we have God’s Word hid in our hearts, we can remember these verses when we are going through trials or temptations in our life. Not only is it a great app for Bible memory, it also gives a great list of foundation verses for children to learn. Children can not only hide God’s Word in their heart but they can become more grounded in His Word and know Him more.

I started thinking, if these verses are good for kids to know, how much more would it be for adults to know. These are verses that we should make the foundation for our faith. If we don’t know what we believe, how are we to reach this world for Christ?

Because of this, I am going to go through this list of foundations verses over the next year. I will cover one foundation verse each week. I would love for you to join me on this journey as we look at these verses and make a resolution to dig deeper into God’s Word and get to know HIM better in 2015, all the while, memorizing these verses and hiding them in our hearts.

Are you ready? Be watching this blog next Monday for the first Foundation Verse!

Jason Sneed Points To Ponder

Weekly Points To Ponder: 10.17.14

Points To Ponder

Tennesseans face possibly the most monumental vote in our state’s 218-year history, and it will be an indictment on Christians if Amendment 1 fails to pass. It’s that simple…and that monumental.

The photography phenomenon, known as “duck face” seems to have taken the social media world by storm recently. It started on television, in fashion magazines, celebrities picked up the trend. And NOW it’s trickled down to your little girl! Is it OK?

Best is, of course, a value judgement. We have kept it for this project because it is so obviously subjective. “Best” does not just cover a book’s intrinsic worth: it also prompts a consideration of what a book can achieve. Throughout our debate, we found ourselves balancing a title’s historical position with its place in our memories. A different set of judges on a different day — perhaps even the same set of judges — would certainly have come up with a different list. But, perhaps, not that different. Although there is no science in literary (let alone spiritual) criticism, we none the less approached the search for the 100 Best Christian Books in a scientific way.

Jesus promises us that if we ask, seek, and knock the Father will give us good in return (Luke 11:9-13), even if the good isn’t apparent for 40 years. And because Jesus regularly asked those who came to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” (Mark 10:51), we know that he wants us to be specific with our requests. So, here are seven helpful, specific things to pray for your children:

Jason Sneed Simple Thoughts

Weekly Points To Ponder – July 17, 2014

Points To Ponder

“Pastor John, do you believe there is a difference between film nudity versus pornography? I know many Christians who are against porn, but they have no issue watching movies or TV shows that show graphic nudity.” A young woman named Emily recently e-mailed this question to the Ask Pastor John inbox.

A day later, Adam e-mailed to ask: “Pastor John, what would you say to a Christian who watches the cable TV show Game of Thrones?” This is a television series rated TV-MA, and has become rather infamous for its explicit nudity and sex scenes, and for graphic scenes of rape and sexual violence against women. Game of Thrones is now the most popular series in HBO history, with an average audience of 18.4 million viewers.

What follows is a slightly edited transcript of John Piper’s response in today’s episode of Ask Pastor John.

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Secularists are attacking a major Christian ministry for telling children they are sinners, as reported by Christian Today. Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) has been evangelizing children for more than 75 years through various means, the most notable being its Good News Clubs, which normally meet in homes, community centers, and schools. Another famous CEF program is the Wordless Book, a booklet that shares the salvation message using the colors black, red, white, gold, and green.

More than ever, many secularists are deliberately and aggressively targeting our children and Christian ministries that teach the truth of God’s Word to children—and for a reason! They are going after the hearts and minds of this and coming generations, and if they continue to do so successfully, they’ll win the culture.

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Looking for the top Bible Apps for Study, Fun and Devotions? We assembled a short top 10 list of Bible Apps for IOS & Android devices that will help you grow in knowledge of the Word of God. You can take God’s Word wherever you go and make a daily effort to spend time with Him.

Check out the 10 Apps…

It’s been a while since I’ve seen MTV, but I was flabbergasted. I could not believe the sensuality and decadence I witnessed. Gail and I finally had to turn it off. We just couldn’t take it any more.

As I thought about my experience later, it made me sad. I am the father of five daughters. So perhaps I’m just a little overly sensitive. But I was shocked at the complete absence of modesty, the ridicule of virginity, and the latent misogyny displayed by Russell Brand and many of the artists themselves.

One of the few redeeming moments in the evening was when Jordin Sparks, referring to Brand’s contempt for chastity, said,

I just have one thing to say about promise rings: It’s not bad to wear a promise ring, because not everybody, guy or girl, wants to be a slut.”

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Jason Sneed Simple Thoughts

Weekly Points To Ponder – June 20, 2014

Points To Ponder

Should We Pray for Revival? – desiringGod.org

Ours is not the first generation to recognize the spiritual declension among us, or to see the need for God to awaken his church and touch our land. From the saints of the Old Testament to leaders in our time, prayer for revival has marked believers who understand the need for the Spirit surpasses our ability and intelligence.

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 3 in 4 in U.S. Still See the Bible as Word of God – Gallup.com

PRINCETON, NJ — Twenty-eight percent of Americans believe the Bible is the actual word of God and that it should be taken literally. This is somewhat below the 38% to 40% seen in the late 1970s, and near the all-time low of 27% reached in 2001 and 2009. But about half of Americans continue to say the Bible is the inspired word of God, not to be taken literally — meaning a combined 75% believe the Bible is in some way connected to God. About one in five Americans view the Bible in purely secular terms — as ancient fables, legends, history, and precepts written by man — which is up from 13% in 1976.

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7 Biblical Tests for Christians and Music – TheExchange.com

Christians disagree about music style as much as any other issue in the body of Christ. More than likely, you’ve experienced this firsthand. As I’ve already written, conflicts over music have been common through out church history. Christians have listened to and enjoyed all of kinds of music. But should they?

In seeking to determine what is the right music for a church, it’s important that we use biblical principles in our evaluation. That’s not always easy—the Bible doesn’t contain music notes. God never gives us His musical preferences.
While it may be difficult, I do believe it’s possible to evaluate musical preferences using God’s word. The following seven tests each relate to biblical principles that we can apply to our music to determine its suitability.

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Salvation Before the Cross – Answers In Genesis

How were people saved before Jesus Christ died on the Cross? The answer is easy, once you realize that nothing happens by chance—the solution was already in place even before the world began.

The Bible record presents two dominant themes: promise and fulfillment. Over and again we see God promising and then, true to His word, fulfilling. Even at the very beginning, when the fall of man first brought sin and death into the world, God graciously promised that one day Christ would step into history, as a “lamb . . . foreordained before the foundation of the world” (1 Peter 1:19–20), to shed His blood to save a fallen humanity.

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GREAT RESOURCE – Proverbial Thought (Amazon.com)

Proverbial Thought is a collection of commentary and personal reflection on the wisdom of each and every individual proverb through the entire book of Proverbs. However, the commentary and personal reflection contained in this work are in no way exhaustive. For that matter, even if we were to attempt to plumb the depths of Proverbs, “the world itself could not contain the books that should be written” (John 21:25). It is up to you, the reader, how to use this book (and the ones to follow). You could use it as a devotional, reading an entry a day as you seek to start your day in the wisdom of the Lord. You could use it as an additional commentary as you study God’s Word for a lesson or sermon. You could even use it to gain insight into that occasionally difficult passage that has you stumped. But no matter how you use it, always make sure to first ask the Holy Spirit for enlightenment when you study Scripture.